Good morning.
Apparently Germany is where Christmas trees and advent calendars originated. They have a tradition that I have never heard of: the Christmas Pickle! A glass pickle ornament is tucked deep in the boughs of the tree the night before Christmas; the first child to find it in the morning (it’s hard because it blends in with the tree) is allowed to open his or her presents first!
It just reminded me of an unusual Christmas in my life. One year, it was my idea to spend Christmas at our cottage in Point Clark, thinking of white fluffy snow, sunshine, able to go walking by the frozen lake, sounding beautiful. So off we went in two cars, fully loaded with presents and lots of food for the week-end, Christmas Eve and dinner the next day. All went well until we hit Listowel where we ran into a major snow storm. So of course, since we are Canadians, we did not listen to the advice of the OPP and followed a snow plow along Hwy. 86 until we got above Wingham………………… the snow plow entered the ditch and following close behind, so did we!
We ended up welcomed by a lovely couple, spending Christmas Eve in their one bedroom farm house, sleeping on the living room floor. They called their neighbours, brought food and a ‘little’ booze via snow mobiles, and had the most amazing meal, fun, laughter and a bad night’s sleep. Just showed us the kindness and compassion of country folk!
The next day, sun shining, neighbours dug us out, snow plow pulled out, road cleared and we continued to the cottage to celebrate Christmas. The turkey was still frozen solid as was the lettuce, veggies, potatoes and all other trimmings for the Christmas dinner. We ended up eating a pot of frozen chili from the freezer for our dinner. We went to the bush, cut and trimmed a ratty little tree, made popcorn and strung it on the tree and had one of the BEST Christmas' ever! We were together and that’s all that mattered. Good memories!
Second day of liquids over so today is the first day of semi-solid and solid foods. Munching Myrtle is dancing around here like a fool – doing back flips, front flips and going around in circles! She thinks she’s getting something, anything. Her hips and lips are moving like crazy, just waiting.
Nicole, the Dietitian/Nutritionist, standing in front of me looking slim, healthy and perky says she eats between 6-7 meals a day. Obviously they are very healthy and small – maybe Myrtle is smarter than I think!
I too remember some old fashioned Christmas times Dianne. I grew up in a family of nine kids and boy were we poor. Both parent worked full time but sometimes that was not enough. My father made all our gifts at times. He could sew better than most tailors and bought a used Singer sewing machine to make our clothes. I remember one year he made my two younger brother's cowboy outfits out of a roll of leather he had saved. We have a picture of the boys looking smart in their brown vests with matching chaps. They were holding cheap plastic guns from a home-made holster but the look of pride in their eyes is so heartwarming. I remember sitting around on Christmas morning under a fake fireplace that barely gave us much heat but we were such a happy bunch. We have it "all" these days, don't we?
ReplyDeleteEnjoy every morsel of todays treats Dianne.
Oops, the above from Linda xoxo
DeleteWhat a nice story Linda - I was wondering who wrote it. Didn't realize you came from such a large family. I only remember your beautiful sister Joan and the Leitch Library of course for the Mysthenia Gravis chapter. Thanks for the comments. xo
DeleteI found one of those Pickles while shopping in Stratford a few years ago. I loved the story and tradition that goes with it. Funny because I just saw them again at Gibson's (Waterloo). Hope you have a good day and some tasty food.
ReplyDeleteJudy Monotiuk
Hi Dianne:
ReplyDeleteLove reading your Blog: Was happy to hear you are having some real food today. Enjoy every mouthful, and keep Munching Myrtle happy LOL! Take Care of yourself!
L.....Heather
Glad to hear that you are on semi solids. Yes we have a pickle and we hide it every year and now the girls (having their own houses) too have pickles for their trees...
ReplyDeleteWe are off heading for our christmas trip with the girls, but I will check your daily blog, as I enjoy seeing how you are doing....take care and have a wonderful Christmas..
Love
Trish & Larry
Your Christmas story today brought back some funny memories! Not sure if you remember the jug (glass, I think) of apple cider that Sean and I were taking in our little Ford Escort to the cottage as you had run out of room in your car. Well, it exploded overnight in the back seat of our car and went mostly on the inside roof of the car. No problem with that, BUT when we headed out that next morning the windshield fogged up so I turned on the defrost to high. All of a sudden the cider started to drip on our faces, hair, and clothes!! Sean and I at first looked at each other like...what the heck is this?...and then we started laughing as it was so funny!! (and we could do nothing to stop it!!!lol!!)
ReplyDeleteThat was the most exciting Christmas in my life! The most awesome was when you and Dad had us come to California over Christmas. That was a wonderful time! Amazing memories!! Thank you for your part in those long ago times!!
Love,
Chrissie
My memory of a special Christmas was when I got figure skates for Christmas.Of course I could barely wait to go skating. We had to walk from around Schneiders meats to Victoria park.The walk just about did us in but that didn't stop us. I put the skates on and hurried out on the ice and darn near broke my neck.The skates were not a pair, one was professional and the other was a regular type. The difference is in the picks.Of course I was so proud of getting them that I didn't even notice the difference.
ReplyDeleteRose