Christmas continues in my house

By Carol Weimer
Canastota Corner

Ever so gradually we’re getting back to normal at our house. The decorations and tree are still up and I’m enjoying them more now than before Christmas.

I have time to look at the tree and listen to Christmas music .

Before Christmas I’m so frazzled I hardly notice the decorations, except to be sure the lights are on when it gets dark. A neighbor his decorations on a timer, so whether home or not, they come on at a certain time. Smart.

I feel I’m lucky to have a switch inside the warm house to turn off at bedtime.

However the house is becoming a little more normal. The Christmas linens have been laundered, ironed and folded into tissue paper, ready for next year.

Today’s linens are so much easier to care for. I can remember after the holidays my grandmother standing for hours ironing the linens that were used for the Christmas dinner; it had to be done perfectly - that was grandma’s way.

She had a linen tablecloth with a holly-and-berry design with napkins to match; the family initial was embroidered into the corner. We still use the napkins, but the tablecloth has finally shown the wear of time and has several holes in it. If grandma were, she would’ve cut it up and made into dresser scarves, towels or napkins. We still use dresser scarves with initials embroidered in the corners; I don’t even know whose initials they are, but you can be sure grandma knew. You might say she was recycling, but didn’t know it at the time.

Some people today have the same tendencies. We can find uses for butter or whipped topping tubs, egg cartons and cardboard tubes. Baby food jars and hairspray lids are in demand from craftspeople, the tops from hairspray cans. There are women who save their plastic bread wrappers to braid beautiful rugs and chair mats. I could go on and on.

I wonder what our grandmothers would think of all of the plastic that comes into our homes with foodstuffs. I can almost hear my own saying “a waste of money using so many containers for foods.” And she didn’t even know about landfills and how they can be filled with such items if not recycled. Girl Scout, Brownies and 4-H members save empty containers for so many uses.

Holiday aprons are popular now that aprons are making a comeback. If you are one of those persons who shops for next Christmas to take advantage of all the bargains, this would be the time to pick up a Christmas apron or two for those ladies who are hard to buy for. Be sure to keep a list with your purchases so you know next December who you purchased them for. Organization is the keyto taking advantage of post-Christmas sales. Have a special place to keep all of the purchases you make throughout the year for Christmas gifts for those people you are buying for.
We have another week or two before we have to take down the rest of the decorations, unless you keep your tree up until Epiphany (The 12th day of Christmas, Jan. 6) like I do. Some folks’ trees stay up until the end of January or even Valentine’s Day, decorating it with hearts and flowers for the occasion.