INA'S CHRISMAS MEMORIES, 1937 (DAY 11)

 

Well, to continue and go on, after one late dinner I made donuts for I must have fresh donuts for Christmas, and you know “doughnuts and coffee never hurt anyone.” – Ina, 1934

None of Ina’s children came home for Christmas in 1934, and she worked on for that special celebration despite her loneliness. “I got my letters and cards and boxes off in good season and had the last week mostly to make a dress for my niece Ruth,” she tells us. “Bertha told me not to try to do it before Christmas, but I wanted to. The dress and the collar I made, unknown to them all, were my gifts to Ruth. She came down different days and did my work up so I’d have more daylight to sew. One day she did my washing besides. On Sunday both nieces, Ruth and Doris, helped me decorate the house with boughs and trim the tree. They enjoyed it and so did I.

In the evening, when I was alone again, I fell upon the boxes of gifts received from my children. Ethel’s was tied with green string and I cut this off to tie on packages, being foolish about green string for my tree packages. . . The packages were all so pretty and I had a great time hanging them on and under the tree.” 

Real time update: 

We noticed it's going to be cold on Russell Ridge next week, so Mike and I -- and Bess, of course -- hopped into the big old pick-up and headed to the farm to winterize the house. Mission accomplished. We will spend Christmas in town this year. 

While we were there, the temp was 36 and the wind shrieked and howled around the house with occasional flurries of snow. An inch or two of snow remained on the ground. There will likely be more. KW