Spirits of the Past

Yesterday morning I spotted a cardinal in some bushes in the alley behind my house.  I saw it while on my morning walk with Blade, my dog.  I didn't think much of it yesterday, but this morning the cardinal was now squawking at me.  Let me add, it was REALLY squawking, so much it caught my attention right away.   They say cardinals are angels.  They say a cardinal is a representative of a loved one who has passed.  When you see one, it means they are visiting you.   

I immediately thought of a friend of mine - Miriam - she loved cardinals, she passed a few years ago and then of thought of Shirley, another friend who passed a little over a year ago and suddenly I had a hole in heart from the loss of several friends over the years.

It's inevitable, as we get older, we start to loose friends and family.

As I continued walking, I was really sad, but then I thought of all the good things these friends brought to my life and I became filled with love; and suddenly the hole in my heart was filled. 

Death happens, it will happen to me one day.  But this morning I realized that life is full of love.  Loving memories, love of friends and family, the love of my dog and I would say the cat, but cats, I not so sure about.  The world doesn't need love, it has it - you just have to recognize it and share what you have with everyone else.  So that one day, when you depart this life to go on to the next one that you don't leave holes, but instead you leave love.

and with that it is another day in Catasauqua.

Harry Potter Loves Jello

Harry Potter Loves Jello is a quirky way our Pastor came up with to remember the Sundays in Advent.  Hope, Peace, Love and Joy.  And, may I say that it worked because this year everyone remembered,  in order,  the Sundays of Advent.  Advent is the start of the Church's year  - easy to remember - its starts with an A - Also if you ever get confused between Advent and Lent, remember ABC, Advent Before Christmas.

As I sit here aching from back to toe after toting 12 Christmas totes down 2 flights of steps I must remember that it is not just the decorations that get us ready for  Christmas, it is our hearts that we really need to get ready. 

Since Thanksgiving I have been busy taking Autumn stuff down and putting Christmas stuff up.  I went shopping at Target Thanksgiving night for some great doorbuster deals for my Grandchildren.  I even shopped a little on Black Friday.  I must say that after working 35 years on Black Friday it felt good to be off.  (I did have off a couple of years ago, but I was laid off at the time so it did not feel so joyous) 

I have decorated at home and I have decorated at Church and am almost  ready  for Advent to begin.  My Advent Candle Ring is still in the attic and I will get it down tomorrow, as soon as I get the rest of the junk off the dining room table and the Christmas table cloth on.

Parke and I had the annual Christmas decoration fight.  He says I have too many, and I agree, but some decorations bring with them memories.  Some of the memories I want to keep, like all the decorations my son made for me when he was in school.  Or the manger from my Grandmother's house.

I like good memories, I like Christmas and I love the Baby Jesus.  So here's wishing you Harry Potter Loves Jello, oops I mean Hope, Peace, Love and Joy this Christmas season.  May this year bring you some fond memories and may your heart be ready to accept the love that comes from God this season in the form of a baby.

and that's another day in Catasauqua.

One of the best presents ever

Sometimes the smallest present can become one of the best presents ever.  Such as, the dough scraper.  Yes the handy and might dough scraper was given to me as a gift from my cousin Sandy.  She was working at Ace Hardware when they got them in and she immediately bought me one and one for herself. 

On Saturday I made one roll out recipe that I have from an Aunt of Annette's.  It's a good cookie, but sometimes it can be challenging to roll out.  This is where the dough scraper comes in handy.  From scooping up the cookie to putting it on the tray to cleaning off the board when dough gets stuck-- it is a super gadget.

In the picture you see both my grandmother's rolling pin and her bread board, as she called it, which I roll out my dough on.  It's funny, when I was small I thought both objects where huge. Time has made them smaller.

Making cookies is a long family tradition.  One that my cousin Sandy and I kept going.  I remember the one time, she brought tons of cookie sheets and we rolled and stacked and roll and stacked and then baked, we practically looked professional. Ah the good times.  This year we almost lost her, and as I rolled out the cookies and scraped the dough I thought constantly of her.  It is funny how something so small can hold so many memories.

Here is wishing you many merry memories this holiday season. 

and that's another day in Catasauqua.