Amanuensis Monday - Grandma Hill's Poetry, week 17

Here's to the measure of every man's worth

Though when men are wanting, it grieves us

Hearts that are hollow,m we're better without

Hearts that are loyal, it leaves us.

Nancy Jane Wiley Hill (1875-1960) was always writing something.  Many of those poems are now in the possession of her granddaughter Shirley Kern.  Shirley, with the help of her sister-in-law Ruth Ormsby, transcribed these poems in 1996 for a Hill-Ormsby-Kern family reunion.  I am going to post many of these poems so that they may be enjoyed by all.

These are copyright 1996 and reprinted with permission.

Amanuensis Monday - Grandma Hill's Poetry, week 16

XMAS

 Blue-tinted snow,

Green of the tree,

Red green holly,

And you and me.

Nancy Jane Wiley Hill (1875-1960) was always writing something.  Many of those poems are now in the possession of her granddaughter Shirley Kern.  Shirley, with the help of her sister-in-law Ruth Ormsby, transcribed these poems in 1996 for a Hill-Ormsby-Kern family reunion.  I am going to post many of these poems so that they may be enjoyed by all.

These are copyright 1996 and reprinted with permission.

Society Saturday - Stacy's Tavern

The DuPage Chapter of the Daughters of American Colonists had their December meeting at Stacy's Tavern in Glen Ellyn.

Stacy's Tavern was founded in 1846 by Moses Stacy who migrated to Illinois in 1835.  He purchased 500 acres of land with the intention of making money.  One of his ventures was a tavern along one of the main roads out of Chicago.  The tavern was a popular stop along the route.

There was a ladies' parlor where Joanna Stacy would entertain any women who stopped.  The men were entertained in the tap room where there were card games and checkers.  They might drink some of the home-brewed beer made with hops grown by Mr. Stacy.  Local men would also stop by for the evening, especially if they were single because they would receive a good hot meal.

After dinner, everyone would retire early, so they could get an early start to resume their travels in the morning.  Men would sleep in one room, women in the other, with up to 5 people, often strangers, in one bed.   Two meals, a bed for the night, and hay for the horses cost 50 cents.

Stacy's tavern is on the National Register of Historic Places.  A historical marker was placed by the DuPage DAC in 1967, and we visited it as well.

Unfortunately, photographs were not allowed inside, so I only have exterior photos.

http://www.glenellynhistory.org/

Amanuensis Monday - Grandma Hill's Poetry, week 15

Trouble is the dowry of every man's birth

A nettle adversity flings us.

It yields to the grip of the masterful hand.

When we play around, it stings us.

 

 

Nancy Jane Wiley Hill (1875-1960) was always writing something.  Many of those poems are now in the possession of her granddaughter Shirley Kern.  Shirley, with the help of her sister-in-law Ruth Ormsby, transcribed these poems in 1996 for a Hill-Ormsby-Kern family reunion.  I am going to post many of these poems so that they may be enjoyed by all.

These are copyright 1996 and reprinted with permission.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Day 14, Christmas Cookies

Once a year, usually on a Saturday, we would Bake Cookies!  This was an all day event that always started the night before.  My mother would make a batch of cutout cookies and the dough would chill overnight.  The next day, she would start cutting out each cookie - the recipe made 10-12 dozen!   She spent the morning putting pans in the oven, taking them out, letting them cool, and so on.

Once the cookies were cooled, the fun began.  My sister and I would decorate them while my mother made the frosting.  It was like a miniature assembly line.  Every shape had it's own required frosting.
For example, the stars had yellow frosting made with lemon extract and yellow sugar sprinkles
The trees had green frosting with almond extract and green sugar.
The santas were red peppermint with red sugar,
And so on -
As we grew older, we got a little crazy with our color and flavor choices - for example there were purple hazelnut reindeer with multicolored sprinkles.

We gave some cookies away, froze some to last for Christmas, and of course, sampled a few as we went along.  Because Christmas morning was always a little hectic as we opened our gifts and stockings from Santa, we were allowed to have Christmas cookies for breakfast.

I have carried on this tradition with my own daughters, and yes, there are occasionally purple hazelnut reindeers, not to mention cookies for Christmas morning breakfast.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Day 2, Christmas Cards

Yes, another late posting.

I still send out Christmas cards - to friends, family, coworkers and fellow lineage group officers.  Although I do almost all of my other correspondence electronically, I feel like emailed Christmas greetings are too impersonal.  (I still hand-write my thank you notes as well - a good habit that I have my mother to thank).

For nearly 20 years, we have been sending out an annual holiday letter.  There are a few years that I've missed due to one thing or another, but I enjoy doing this.  A few times, my daughters wrote the letter, and one year our dog even "wrote" the letter.  I like to give updates on our family - what the girls are involved with at school, work, etc.  I talk about vacations we have taken.  Basically, any news that has happened over the past year.  I insert representative photos in the letter - pictures of a new pet, the girls dressed up for a dance, halloween costumes, and vacations have all appeared.

I enjoy reading the letters that I receive from my family and friends.  I have saved them in a binder and it is a lot of fun to look back at previous years and marvel at how much the girls have grown, or how fashions have changed.  I feel like it is a window into a family's history - both my own, as well as other family letters that I keep.

Now, its time to start writing this year's letter....

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Day 5 - Christmas Recipes

OK, so I'm a little late with this one.

One of our favorite Christmas Recipes is "Greek Macaroni".  My daughters insist that I make this every year, and it is definitely one of the easiest side dishes.

When I was growing up, every year we would travel to Uncle Dick and Aunt Mary's for Christmas Day dinner.  They would open their home to several relatives.  Every year there was always a neighbor or two, or coworker, or simply a friend who didn't have other plans and would be invited as well.  Aunt Mary was an excellent cook.  Every year she would make a lamb roast - nobody could equal her roast!  And she would make Greek Macaroni.  I'm not sure what the real name for it was, but since it was her recipe and she was Greek, that's what everyone called it.

The recipe is:
1 box of penne pasta
1 stick of butter
Grated Parmesan/Romano cheese.

Cook the pasta according to package directions.  Drain well.
Melt the butter.
Layer in a large casserole dish - a layer of pasta, sprinkle on a layer of cheese, drizzle with butter, repeat.  We would usually end up with 3 sets of layers.  Let set for a few minutes, then serve.

I have used different shapes of pasta but find penne the best.  As I have gotten more health conscious, I have switched to whole-grain pasta, light butter and low fat cheese.  It is still delicious!.

Another trick is to chop up leftover noodles and mix with scrambled eggs the next morning for a cheesy egg dish.

Amanuensis Monday - Grandma Hill's Poetry, Week 14

Young men walk on trouble's brink

Doing things before they think

Old men like to sit and whittle

Thinking much, but doing little.

Nancy Jane Wiley Hill (1875-1960) was always writing something.  Many of those poems are now in the possession of her granddaughter Shirley Kern.  Shirley, with the help of her sister-in-law Ruth Ormsby, transcribed these poems in 1996 for a Hill-Ormsby-Kern family reunion.  I am going to post many of these poems so that they may be enjoyed by all.

These are copyright 1996 and reprinted with permission.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Day 8, Christmas Shopping

I am old enough to remember shopping before everyone went to the mall.  Definitely before everyone spent "Cyber Monday" doing what I just did (picked up a few things from amazon.com).

I remember going downtown to Tiedtke's and Lion Store - the two main department stores in Toledo.  It was an all day outing, and we would be able to buy almost everything we needed at those stores.  Tiedtke's had several demonstration tables set up where the salespeople would show the latest in household gadgets - "It slices, it dices..." or whatever the gimmick was.

(from wgte.org public media site)

A few of those years I remember traveling to Hudson's Department store in Detroit (about an hour away).  Again, this was an event that we looked forward to.  My favorite memory of shopping at Hudson's was the area that they had set up just for children.  There was a separate room in the store where a child would go shopping without their parents.   My mother would give me a few dollars and I would go in.  The salesladies were always very helpful, and there were a lot of inexpensive items for sale  that I could buy as a surprise for my mother for Christmas.  I believe that I could wrap them in there as well.  I walked out of that room feeling like such a "big girl" having done my own Christmas shopping, and I couldn't wait for my mother to open her gift on Christmas eve.

At this point, I don't remember what I bought, but I definitely remember the feeling of being so grown up.

Not long after this, the shopping malls began sprouting in the outskirts and suburbs.  The downtown department stores ultimately closed their doors and shopping lost some of its magic.

Amanuensis Monday - Grandma Hill's Poetry, week 13

December has come again, and Nature has gone to rest

With her children tucked snug and warm on her breast.

She has covered them with the leaves and the snow

They must rest a while.  Next spring they will awaken and grow.

The North winds blow.  in the air there is a chill

That momentarily stilled the water in each tiny rill.

With snow she covered the green fields of wheat.

She knows, of the crop, many nations must eat.

The leaves of the trees lie seared and browned.

Their life-giving sap has been hidden deep in the ground.

The tree branches are bare, the wind goes through them.

The crops are all in, even the corn is in the shock

She's taught men to provide shelter for their stock.

She's fitted the others with a much warmer pelt

So they'll be war, the wind won't be felt.

So we can go inside and enjoy the fire's haven

Some others she's fitted to sleep the winter through in a cave.

Nancy Jane Wiley Hill (1875-1960) was always writing something.  Many of those poems are now in the possession of her granddaughter Shirley Kern.  Shirley, with the help of her sister-in-law Ruth Ormsby, transcribed these poems in 1996 for a Hill-Ormsby-Kern family reunion.  I am going to post many of these poems so that they may be enjoyed by all.

These are copyright 1996 and reprinted with permission.

Advent Calendar of Christmas Memories - Day 1: Christmas Tree

Do you remember the silver Christmas trees?  That's what I had when I was younger.  It was  a silvery-tinsel tree with a rotating light that changed colors.  Every year it was set up in a corner of our living room. 

 

  

I couldn't find a picture of my tree, but this is how I remember it. 

I don't remember when we changed to an artificial tree in the family room (sometime after I turned five, since that is when we added the family room).

After I was married, we had a live tree for several years.  Now that I am single again, it is a small artificial tree - but I have never gone back to that silvery-tinsel tree of my youth.

 

I still have one of the ornaments from my childhood.  Every year it occupies a place of honor near the top of my tree.  Although the trees have changed, this ornament remains constant.