2004 Relocation and a New Bank

Hallelujah! 2004 Everyone has a job. The village needs a Bank. What a great addition for our village. Mom got the first gift of Christmas before leaving for Church and the Bossermans Christmas eve celebration. Tradition reigns. Along with the Bank comes a offer to personalize the name plate on the Bank so it becomes the Stanford Bank. A small second gift of Christmas this year were the figures in front of the bank titled "A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned".

2003 Not the First Gift of Christmas

The Warren Homestead and the Walden Cottage from Dept 56 New England Village Series

The village remained on the foyer table in the new house on Ballantree unchanged for several years. The tradition of the first gift was abandon with the activites and decorations of a new house and new traditions. And so it was until Jessica decided to reinstate the growth of the village. Christmas Day of 2003 a surprise gift for mom. The Warren Homestead and Walden Cottage were added to the village for next year and it was decided that the village would relocate to the buffet counter in the "living room". An opportunity for growth and tradition once again.

Busy Season and a nothing year

So we skip from Friday post to Tuesday post in what was suppose to be a daily Christmas posting of the First Gift of Christmas Story. The truth is that December is a busy month with many activities and those activities overwhelmed the writer this weekend. And that was coupled with the fact that the year 2000 was the year we moved into 9860 Ballantree and it was decided that the village maybe was complete and there was no need for a first gift anymore. So there was nothing to add. The village was set up on the same foyer table in the new foyer and Christmas was celebrated in our new house. I might add at this time that since we now had a sun room with a 20 foot ceiling everyone thought a bigger Christmas tree was in order and that would consume our decorating time. I think the tree we brought home barely made it through the sliding door and had to be trimmed to put the star on top. The height of the tree was overwhelming as was the circumference. Since then we have continued to put the tree in the sun room but we have chosen smaller trees. I am still convinced though that the tree can grow a foot or two on the drive home.

A Post Office ? The first Gift of 1999

The First Gift of Christmas 1999

Post Office

Dept 56 New England Series

I had to go look at the boxes to determine which gift was given in 1999. Reading the box comments I had written brought it back immediately. John was at Ohio State University in the fall of 1999 and we would write letters to him. WOW! Writing letters and a post office may be a thing of the past at some point in the future of this village, but in 1999 my comments were "John at OSU this fall so our village needs a Post Office. The price of a stamp is $.33"

The price of a stamp today is .47 or it was the last time I bought stamps. Now there is such a thing as forever stamps and they are basically good forever even if the current price of a stamp is more than you paid.

The First Gift of Christmas 1998

We so enjoyed adding people and making the stories up about our village activites that the shopping ...again ...the buying trip was specific to add people. This year the accessories were titled "A Peaceful Glow on Christmas Eve". It was about this year that I decided I needed to record the dates and specifics of the first gift of Christmas on the boxes since as this tradition would continue the history of the village will be altered by everyone's own recollections. So I did go back and add a little verse to each of the previous boxes and I have added the dates and comments with each addition since then. I am publishing this particular boxed history because it has been added to twice. Not sure if you can read from the picture but the comments are as follows:
"The first gift of Christmas 1998 with the Tree from Steve + John + Jessica + Mike"
"Christmas 2000 New address and lantern boy was hobbled by Steve. John fixed him with glue"
"But no new pieces"

2012 "I notice the candle is broken"

The hobbled boy with the broken candle. It is very hard to see where the knees were broken and repaired but he definitely would be burning his hand if his candle were still lit. Perhaps the candle broke when he originally fell in 2000 and we never noticed it. Probably the small piece got sweep up by the vacuum. The peaceful glow of Christmas eve...such a little piece with so much history.

The priest and young boy came with the set but usually stand by the Old North Church now. Just seems kind of an appropriate place for them.

The little girl in the set wanders around every Christmas wherever she seems to be needed. This year she is standing with the Cratchet Boy who is singing a carol to her.There were also a few pine trees that were an additional first gift this year but we'll talk more about that when we get to the forest entry in coming years.

The First Gift of Christmas 1997

 

The Snow Children

Dept 56 Accessories

By 1997 as we decorated the house for Christmas our village was pretty sitting on the table in the foyer but it was a ghost town. So the shopping trip...whoops...the buying trip on the busy Saturday before Christmas had a specific purpose. People would be added. The first grouping was the snow children. They slid around the houses for many years until in 2000 when we moved to Ballantree  they got a hill. The buffet counter in the dining room was the new home for the village in 2000 and the hill was created when it became necessary to cover the bar sink faucet. So now in our village the sledding boys are really having fun.

The other grouping of people given as a first (second) gift of Christmas was

 "Christmas Caroling with the Cratchett Family"

 

 

This is one of the few pieces that have some sign of age. The loop for lantern on the back of the sleigh broke. There is still a little piece of the handle so the lantern is attached but as you can see it is at somewhat of an awkward angle.

The First Gift of Christmas 1996

The Captains Cottage

Dept 56 New England Series

Having decided last year that we liked the look of the New England Series of houses our village grew this year with the addition of the Captains Cottage. Steve and the kids were settling into a tradition of their own by going out on the Saturday before Christmas to get the "First Gift of Christmas". Luckily they had found a little store in Perrysburg that carried the houses and also did the gift wrapping for them. The foyer table will beging to look like a village when all the pieces are put out next Christmas.

The First Gift of Christmas 1995

1995 Lomas Ltd. Molasses

Dept 56 Dickens Collection

This year the family (minus mom) picked a Dickens collection house. I suppose they liked the look of the house and of course with the nickname for Linda being "lomalinda"  I am sure the Lomas in the name helped secure this selection. As we add this house we now discover that we have a unique combination of New England, Dickens and undefined houses in our growing village. Maybe we should have a theme. It is discussed and we agree that the New England Village is the favorite look. Again a foreshadowing that Jessica may like the New England lifestyle and ultimately settle in Boston some 15 years later.

The Village Story Continues 1994

The Old North Church

Irony? Foreshadowing? Strange that the first addition from Steve and the kids was the famous Boston Old North Church. St Rose played in big role in our lives in 1994 with both John and Jessica at the parish school and active in the church. John was an Altar boy working with Father Thomas. I was a eucaristic minister and we were regularly attending mass. Certainly the church was an impressive addition to the little country store from Mom Stanford in 1991. Our village has a church and a store. They were placed on the foyer table together. The Old North Church was a Dept 56 house from the New England Village Series. But as it was a shopping trip for Steve with a young John, Jessica and Michael we weren't aware of the many series of villages that were being produced. Jump forward 20 years to 2014 as I am writing this and the significance of the Old North Church has finally hit me. We were visiting the REAL Old North Church just last week while we were in Boston at Jessica's for Thanksgiving.

The History of the Stanford Christmas Village

 

 

 

The Village as set up December 2014

 

 

The First House

 

 

It all began on Christmas 1991. I don't remember opening the gift, whether it was at our house on Christmas Day or at the Stanford Christmas which would have been at The Stanford's condo on Pine Creek in Carrietown. Mom Stanford (Caroline) always liked to give a little surprise and this year it was a house for each of the daughters/daughter-in-laws. This particular house was from the Elder Beerman Store (no surprise as Dad Stanford was a retiree of Macy's) and was not part of any of the more established Christmas village lines. The house was cute with its little light and thus it became part of the regular Christmas decorations. It came out in 1992 and was placed on the foyer table where the electrical outlet was an easy fit. The same thing happen the next year. Just the little house sitting on the foyer table next to the big lamp.

 

Until 1994 when Steve decided it would be fun to give mom a first gift of Christmas. The reading of the book "The Polar Express" had become an annual Stanford Christmas tradition too and "the first gift of Christmas" became a famous line. Christmas eve was always a busy evening. Everyone showering and getting dressed for church and then gathering at the Bosserman house for dinner. But it became the tradition to give mom the first gift of Christmas right before we exited the house. I guess maybe it proved that Santa Claus didn't bring this gift because Santa never came to our house until well after midnight...sometimes not even until after midnight mass. So as we left for church on December 24, 1994 a tradition began although we would not know it for several years.

 

Yoga

I tried something new this week. I took a yoga class. I have talked about trying yoga before but it never has happen. So this week when an introductory class was offered at Belmont I decided it was time to get a mat and give it a try. The class was taught by the wife of a classmate of Steve's from high school. I had met Kathy on several occasions and felt she would teach a good class. She began to practice yoga in her 50's and can appreciate that not all of us are as flexible as we used to be. It was an hour of self affirmation and stretching; some traditional poses and lots of emphasis on listening to your body. I enjoyed the class.
Today I went to the library to get a book on yoga and a couple of tapes. Much like Kathy had instructed on Tuesday the emphasis from the library information is body awareness, stretching and meditation. It makes me think that yoga was started by the last kid picked for every team in grade school. I liked the yoga routine but it is not something that some people are good at and others struggle with. With practice everyone could be a yoga master. There are no yoga Olympics. Maybe that is the attraction of yoga. It does make you feel good after completion and I am sure there are going to be some good physical changes from practicing the core strengthening poses. I will need to work on the non competitiveness of it." No judgement" was a term thrown around during the class. Don't judge yourself or others. Do a pose until your body says stop. Stretch as far as you can. Use a wall to steady yourself. Every other activity I have ever participated in stresses getting to be the best you can be. In golf you are better than people with a higher handicap than you. In tennis your have a ranking.  I will struggle with this in yoga. I think as you progress in yoga you must get "in tune" with your body and that is the ultimate goal. Self awareness and calm acceptance of yourself. Hmmm.... Will continue the posts on Yoga.

Happy Birthday Mike. # 30 November 14

Yes it is hard to believe that Mike is turning thirty years old today.  He has done well in those years and hopefully will continue that trend. He celebrated 5 years on his job as a custodian at the group homes in Bowling Green. He maintains his apartment in BG and has paid off his car. He is an accomplished Special Olympian in swimming, basketball, track and field, and golf.  He enjoys going to Quarters Bar on Friday nights and having a beer or two and in fact that was his choice today instead of coming home for a birthday dinner with mom and dad.

Congratulations Mike and Happy Birthday. We love you!

The "g's" of summer

That would be "Golfing" and "Gardening". My g's are really winding down for the year. We played golf on Sunday with a high of 48 and 10-15 mile an hour winds. Being dressed for the weather makes it comfortable to be outside but I still haven't found the combination of clothes for the temperature and clothes that you can make a good full golf swing in. I've got my November golf in now and I don't think I'll play again until the temperatures are in the fifties. Unless of course we go out Christmas morning to play 18. Number 18 that is.

So on the the other "g" of summer. Gardening is about finished too. After riding around with the trash can in my Jeep for a month I think my accumulation of leaf top dressing for the new gardens is about complete. I added several new plants from the 75% off sales at the end of the year clearances and I am now finishing my drawings of where these new plants are located. I learned last year that by spring I had forgotten where and what I quickly threw into the ground the previous fall. My American Dream coreopsis came up but I kept pulling it out in the spring because I thought it was grass.  It wasn't until I found a tag from one of the plants that I remembered where I put it and realized my mistake. Also last fall my garden mentor Kathy was in the process of moving and there were rootings of several plants she wanted me to have from her garden. Some of these got put into the ground quickly in a fertile location with the intention of finding a good home in the spring. By summer when they came up I was struggling with identification and so moving never happen.  My learning process of gardening is evolving. I love the perfect gardens in the magazines but I really am enjoying the scattered approach.  A garden changes every year as things grow and mature. It is okay to move things for many reasons. Sunlight changes as trees get bigger, soil conditions are different too. I have a wet area that is always going to be a challenge. I am looking forward next summer to adding some of the zinna color from my neighbor Renee. I have a box of zinna seeds I collected this year to scatter around some of my new gardens next year. It was fun to dry the flowers and save the seeds. A great garden frugalista activity.

Big birthday coming up for Mike this week. He will be 30 on Friday. WOW!

As we start the month of November I am reminded that the first snowfall last year was November 12. My garden pictures are an unpleasant reminder. Today was beautiful though and the gardens are being readied for the annual layer of snow.

Out Collecting Leaves

While everyone else is out raking and blowing their leaves to the curb I am out collecting some of the best compost for my garden. As I drive around I look for the best piles of finely shredded leaves that have a little of the late autumn grass clippings mixed in. My garbage can is in the back of the jeep and whenever I find those perfect piles I stop and fill up my garbage can. Then it is spread out over my perennials and new garden areas. I have been amazed at the amount of earth worms that will be present in the leaf compost after just one season on the ground. The Perrysburg clay soil will still be present but at least there will be some extra nutrients near the surface.

I am adding space this year around the bird bath. I hope to make this a cutting garden with flowers that not only attract the birds but are also good for cutting and bringing into the house in vases. I have loved the Sheffield Daisy bouquets this fall from just a few rooting last year. The roses have loved the fall weather too and I have enjoyed having the fresh flowers in the house.

Sheffield Daisy from garden

Sheffields outside by garage year 1

They didn't bloom until the middle of October but are looking good through 2 hard frosts.

 

 

It hasn't been a year

I have decided that I need to start converting my blog into a garden history.  I have started so many projects in the yard and a good place to keep track of the changes will be through the blog. So... Starting today I am uploading pictures- past and present of my gardens and we all can watch the changes. Of course I will try to include a little family activity along with the garden notes. Hope everyone is enjoying this fall weather.