Homemade Christmas Presents

Homemade deer Christmas Presents. Photo by Jerry Apps

On these days after Christmas, I often think about the gifts I have received in the past, especially when I was a kid growing up on a farm during the Great Depression. Money was scarce in those days and “store-bought” presents were few.

I remember most of all the homemade presents I received during those rather dreary times. My grandmother was a knitter, and I, along with my two brothers, often received newly knitted mittens as Christmas presents—how I prized them. Best of all she knitted a heavy woolen scarf for me one year. I wore it when I walked to school on below-zero winter days. My mother wrapped the scarf around my head and shoulders so everything was covered, except for my eyes. As I walked along our snow-covered country road, I thought about my grandmother sitting by a wood stove, knitting. The thoughts helped keep me warm.

I also remember fondly, the skis my Grandfather made for me one Christmas. He made them out of birch boards. I learned that he had steamed the ends of the boards over a boiling kettle so the boards turned up at the ends. He fashioned pieces of leather to hold my rubber boots in place. How wonderful they were. They did not have grooves on their bottoms, so on packed snow they were as likely to go sideways as straight ahead—but that was some of the fun in having them.

I received the two little homemade deer from my son and his family who live in Colorado. They have been a part of our Christmas decorations for several years. They welcome friends by our front door.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS:: There is something special about homemade Christmas presents.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Saturday, February 8, 2:15 p.m., Garden Expo, Alliant Center, Madison

Sunday, February 9, 1:00 p.m.., Garden Expo Alliant Center, Madison

Saturday, March 21, 1:30, Columbus Community Center, Columbus, WI Sponsored by Columbus Public Library and Wisconsin Historical Society Press.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

Look at my books, ONE ROOM COUNTRY SCHOOLS and THE QUIET SEASON for about winter and Christmas.

Buy them from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you travel to the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. Or visit your local bookstore.


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A Christmas Thank You

Book Display at McFarlane's in Sauk City. Photo by Steve Apps.


Christmas is a time to say thanks. I must say thanks to the many people who have helped me doing the past year and years before that. I’ll start with the booksellers, without whom my work would fall on its face. To mention a few: Mystery to Me in Madison, Jahnke’s Bookstore in Wausau, Books and Company in Oconomowoc, and Dregne’s in Westby. Then the non-traditional booksellers: Friends of the Patterson Library in Wild Rose and McFarlane’s in Sauk City. McFarlane’s is an upscale hardware store, but they have my books for sale, and invite me to do a special Merry Christmas radio show at their store each year. And a big thank you to the many booksellers I have not mentioned.

Above all, I must thank my many readers. First a big thank you to all who read my books, young and old. I especially want to thank those at nursing homes and memory care centers, who read my books to folks who can no longer read themselves.

A big thank you to those who read my weekly blog and my weekly column in The Wisconsin State Farmer. Thank you to those who read my twice-monthly column in Agri-View and those who previously read my columns in The Country Today. Not to forget, thank you, readers, of my monthly column in the Richland Electric Coop newsletter.

A Merry Christmas to all and a Happy New Year. As we old farmers always say no matter what happened this year, next year will be better.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: A writer without readers is like a car without wheels. Neither goes anywhere.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

Get them from booksellers mentioned above. Here is how to buy them from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org
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A Special Book

Photo by Jerry Apps

When I was a kid, the weeks and days leading up to Christmas were almost as much fun as Christmas itself. The Sears, Roebuck Christmas catalog arrived in our mailbox right after Thanksgiving. Up until a couple weeks before Christmas, my two brothers and I pored over that precious catalog. Instructions from our parents—you can select one toy and one article of clothing. And that’s what we did, although it wasn’t easy because that “wish book,” as it was commonly called, had so many choices.

My choice for a “toy” from about the time I was about ten years old was usually a book of some kind. That year If I remember correctly, I looked at the vast selection of books until I struck on the one that I absolutely had to have. Its title “Fun For Boys.”

This book had everything a boy would want to know. Chapters included: “How to be a Ventriloquist”. I had heard about people being able to throw their voices, and here I would learn how to do it. “How to Identify Aircraft.” We were in the midst of World War II, and by reading this chapter, I would learn how to spot enemy planes, such as German Messerschmitt’s. Reading this chapter, I would be prepared to identify such an enemy aircraft flying over our farm and notify the authorities—although I wondered how I would do that with our party-line telephone.

Other chapters covered how to build things and handle a rope like a cowboy—and much more.
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes it’s fun to just sit back, and think about how things were.

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS AND DVDS.

Get them from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you travel to the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.

Store-Bought Christmas Tree

Steve, Natasha, and Sue decorating our "store-bought" Christmas tree. Photo by Jerry Apps.


Some thirty years ago I said I would never again buy a Christmas tree. After all, Roshara, our Wild Rose farm is mostly a tree farm. Over the past 50 years, we have planted some 12,000 trees—red pine, white pine, Norway spruce. Even a few blue spruce and a handful of fraser firs. Here and there we also have a few Scotch pine and jack pine volunteers.

I reasoned that surely among that collection of trees there must be at least three decent Christmas trees available each year—for Sue and Paul, for Steve and Natasha, and for Ruth and me. For many years that was the case. Each year, the weekend following Thanksgiving, the family gathered at Roshara in search of the perfect Christmas tree. It was a fun time—so many choices, so many acres of trees to inspect.

But alas, the weekend following Thanksgiving this year included blowing snow, slippery roads, poor visibility—a bad weather weekend. We agreed it was no weekend for driving.

The tradition was broken. Once more, I was reminded about using the word “never.” Standing in our family room is a beautiful fraser fir Christmas tree—which I purchased. As to beauty, our homegrown red pine, white pine and Scotch pine trees are merely ordinary when compared to this fraser fir. But beyond ordinary, our own trees are special because we planted them and watched them grow. They are part of Roshara’s history, part of the place’s contribution to our family’s happiness.

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Real Christmas trees are special---whether store-bought or homegrown.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

December 14, 9:30 to 2:00 McFarlane’s, Sauk City. Christmas on the Farm.

.For those interested in purchasing my books (Christmas is coming). Get them from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you travel to the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s.. They have a great selection of my books for sale, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414.