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Within the confines of this blog, you will find bits and pieces of the life and times of myself, my family and friend dear and near., far and wide, few and far between. You will find bits and pieces of my world, tho small to some, but huge to me. You will find everything from 'soup to nuts',; recipes, hobbies,crafts, gardenings,loves of my life, GrandLoves-a-Plenty, and even my pets... Sooo, if you can handle family life, enjoy the tour of my 'Stuffings'.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Cutting Up

I know that Christmas is a ways off yet, but not if I want to make roping/garland for my deck and doors, or a wreath or swags, to send home with the kids over Thanksgiving.  

These first couple of pictures are of myself wrapped up with my nephew and sister Mel's son, Sam about 16-17 yrs. ago.  (Please forgive the lack of clarity with the pictures.  I took these with an ancient camera, a 110.)
 Wherever we were, her little guy would follow, as all the rest of our kids were in school already.  We made a lot of wreaths and roping that year.  Even Sam got in the action making his very own creation complete with a bird's nest for a winter weary bird.  It's a lot of work, from cutting the boughs from the balsam trees at just the right place to allow for following growth.

Then we would haul the bundles of boughs out of the woods on trailers behind the 4-wheelers,  roll the pine cones we picked off the ground in white paint so they looked like they had snow on them.  Wrapping cuts of the boughs around wire rings to make the wreaths went faster as we learned.  Mel was pretty fast.  My wreaths were usually pretty funky looking like the one on the right of Sam.  Some were sold, some were for our own use.
 My bough cutting, wreath making days are long past as a money-maker.  Now I only make a few swags which are relatively simple and not so hard on arthritic hands.  I keep one or two for my doors and give the rest to the kids  and my mother, for their holiday decor.
 Now, I use Winterberries, balsam, pine and cedar and if it doesn't become snow-covered, any pine cones I can find that the squirrels haven't lunched on.  The reason I do it now, or even earlier, is the weather.  Once it gets cold up north, it usually Stays cold for the next 6 months, at least.  
So, tomorrow, and before the rifle deer season begins this weekend, I need to take the truck and get supplies.
I am so late at getting to this chore that the winterberries have all been eaten by the birds so I will find a way to improvise somehow.  Perhaps just a bow this year, or some glitter spray.  
All I know for sure is that I do love to decorate my door. We will have to wait and see what I come up with.  It all else fails, fake it!

Until next time, thanks so much for making my day.
BlessYourHeart

11 comments:

~mel said...

Talk about a blast from the past! Sam was in Kindergarten that year ~ he's now 23. It was also the year he cut the extension cord with the bough clippers and got the big jolt of electricity through his little body ~ what a scare that was!! The hospital, the black toe, the puking, the getting his heart rythmn back ~ YIKES!!

That was the year I had that order of 3,000 wreaths and 1,000 feet of garland for that company in Minneapolis. I remember it well because it was also the year that I got paid and the check bounced and I ended up waiting until the following year to FINALLY get a good check from them. What a headache that was!

It was also the year my sisters came and worked for me:) I even flew Colleen home from Texas to help. A LOT of visiting and laughter was done and it sure helped make my job easier! THANKS for the trip down memory lane:)

Fred Alton said...

Beautiful that you and your sisters make such a lovely contribtion to
Christmas cheer! Happy Holidays to all of you dear friends up where the snow flies early
!

~mel said...

Me again ~ after posting my prior comment it hit me that I was wrong. The bad check year was the year before that ~ the year of your post was the one where I hauled wreaths and garland down to Texas to sell at the flea markets. Remembering that Colleen helped on that order reminded me.

Muffy's Marks said...

It is a lot of hard work. My friend still makes wreaths to sell. I wonder how long she will be able to do it. Your house will look so beautiful and smell so nice. It is wonderful to bring a little bit of outside in to get through the long winter. Now get those saws out and get going.

imac said...

Not even thought of Christmas yetlol.

Anonymous said...

Making wreaths is HARD! I make my own from stuff in our woods and it's no small effort.

Cher' Shots said...

I remember those days! I always loved doing the roping for our 100' fence when we lived in your neck of the woods. This year I did 5 grapevine wreaths instead. lol
'love & hugs from afar'

Chatty Crone said...

Okay not the Cher I thought - but I still follow this Cher too - looks like you guys have great memories.

You used to make those wreathes to sell - and I love those pink berries.

Sandie

Sunny said...

How pretty! I used to love gathering ground pine to make wreaths out of. Do not know of a place to get it anymore.

troutbirder said...

We too always decorated a Christmas wreath in memory of our eldest son. And thanks for stopping by my little nature blog...:)

Teresa@1800 Farmhouse Rd said...

Can't wait to see what you do this year. I have every intention of using a lot of fresh greenery this year!