SADIE'S CHRISTMAS DOLL -- DAY 18

Snow fell overnight and continued this morning. Big soft flakes fell thickly, making the world so quiet. It was baking day, and Ina made six loaves of bread in anticipation of the arrival of company. She knew it wouldn’t be near enough, though. With more people, there would have to be daily baking. Shirley baked a batch of cookies and then made two mincemeat and apple pies. These would keep well in the “cellar, which was really a shed with thick, sawdust-filled walls. Then Ina made pork cake, a sort of fruitcake, from her mother’s recipe.

In the afternoon Ina pondered again the best way to make a dress for Sadie’s rag doll. Some people would just trace around the doll and have something very cute made in a flash, but Ina wasn’t gifted in that way. If worst came to worst, the nightgown would just have to do and maybe her daughters would assist her in making more clothes after Christmas. Sadie might enjoy that anyway.

A view to the north taken by Ina

So much snow had fallen that a big bobsled party was got up in the evening – a four-horse team pulling 19 people, mostly young couples gathered from homes along the route. When the sled pulled into the yard, Henry jumped off and came to the door for Shirley. The sled went on to the school where participants watched the students present their Christmas skits, recitations, and songs. As the program ended, Santa gave each student a brown paper sack filled with an orange, a popcorn ball, hard candy, and nuts.

 The night was beautiful as the bobsled moved through the snow, the moon shining brightly on the new-fallen snow. The riders sang Christmas carols, the voices becoming fewer as the participants were returned to their homes. Shirley had enjoyed the evening’s entertainment immensely. KW