JEAN'S RECIPES ARE COMING !!!!

Jean will be having a recipe a day, on here, from December 12th until Christmas Eve.  The recipes will be ones that she makes in her home at Christmas time.  Some of the recipes will be breads, cookies, candies, and some will be dishes that you might want to serve on Christmas Day.  On December 20th, Jean will have her introduction and that also will have a recipe.

She got this idea from a newspaper she saw a couple of years that had something similar.  They had a cookie a day until Christmas.  Jean called me and said we could do that but with different recipes.  I agreed.  I also checked with Richard to make sure it wouldn't infringe on anything he planned.  He agreed, so we will start.

Jean is going through recipes now.  If there is any particular recipe you would like-please let us know in comment section and Jean will see if she has it. 

So look forward to Jean's recipes starting on December 12th. 

Again, my computer is going in for a check up and cleaning today, so I may not be able to respond to your comments until tonight or tomorrow.  Any recipe requests you give, I will forward on to Jean, as soon as I can.  We wanted everyone to know in advance so you can come and see them.

I already know what a couple of the recipes will be and you wouldn't want to miss them.

Marilyn

LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND THAT

I noted that Larry Hagman passed away the J. R. Ewing of the TV Show Dallas.  Use to watch him in I dream of Jeanie and Dallas.  Guess he will be most remembered as J.R.  I watched Dallas on and off until the great Who Shot J.R.?  After that I watched the series until the end.

We use to call my family the Ewings.  No we didn't own oil and still don't.  But my brothers and I use to disagree among each other-that is until someone said said something against one of us-then we were united as one.  We called my eldest brother, J.R. and my other brother was Bobbie and I was Miss Ellie.  When one of my brothers would get angry at me, they would call Miss Ellie.  If I got angry at one of them, I would call them their Dallas name.  My one brother, we called Bobbie passed away a few years ago.  We could always tell when one of us was upset at the other if we called them their real name or Dallas name.  Sounds silly now.

My computer will be down on Monday.  It is going into the computer lady to get checked over and cleaned.  I hope she has it done an back by Monday evening-it depends if she finds anything.  If you leave a comment or try to contact me and can't get through, or I don't answer,  that's why.  I get it done every year about this time.

Also, this time of every month, I do a newsletter for the apartments that I live in .  It takes me two or three days to get it all together.  I have to have it done, printed and distributed by the first of the month.  I don't always make it, but I try.  Last month my computer went down and I ran late-real late, so this month I would like it done early.  If I don't answer to your comment right away, I will be working on that.  I just want you to know.  I will be coming to New York State of Mind every day, but if I'm not there soon enought-that is why. I will start on it as soon as I get my computer back from it's annual cleaning.

Guess that's all for now.  Just wanted you to know what is going on if you can't get me. 

Marilyn

AMANDA GRABER'S

I went to Amanda Graber's again, but she was not home.  The only one that was there is one young lady with some younger children.  She did not open the door, so we talked through the window, next to the door. she opened a bit.  My idea was she is about teenage taking care of the younger children.  As they live out in the country and she had no idea who I was, she didn't open the door.

I explained who I was and why I was there-I wanted to know how her grandmother was doing and more information about the rugs she mde.  The girl told me I had to come back when her grandmoter was there.  I asked if I could take some pictures,  She hesitated at first, but I told her I would go stand by my car-where she could see me and just take pictures of the carriages. Then she could see me leave.  She agreed.  So I took the picture while standing by the car.

The carriage next to the barn, with triangle orange sign, is like the one Amanda had the accident in.  I thought that's what the black square one was until Jean saw the pictures.  Jean said the black square carriage is the one they use to bring the seats in for church service.  After service the seats are converted into tables and seats for their meal.  They sometimes have another carriage, like that for pots, pans, dishes, etc. that they may need for the preparing or serving the meal.  Had I know that they would be having a service on Sunday, I would have taken a drive out there to take pictures of the buggies-but I found out after the fact.

This also leads to a mistake I made.  Amanda Graber is not Mennonite-she and her family are Amish.  I asked the lady that talked to me through window and she said they are Amish.  So I made a mistake in my first post.

I observe both the Amish and Old Order Mennonite by not taking pictures of people. I will take of farms, carriages, signs ,animals etc., but no people.  If I should get someone on the camera, I would delete them if it shows Amish or Old Order Mennonite faces.  

I will try to go out ro Amanda Graber's again.  Next time I will try during the week and not on Friday.

Richard has put all the pictures on New York State of Mind and I thank him very much.  I felt it is my time to give it a try.  So if the picture of the carriages come on with this post-it is my first time to give it a try. 

Marilyn

BLACK FRIDAY

Black Friday to me is a stay at home day.  I have been on all sides of that: shopper, saleslady and store owner.  I remember getting up many Black Fridays to get to the stories before they opened to be the first in line.  Got many sale items that way.  Also been there where even though I was there when the store opened, by the time I got to the back of the store where the sale items where-they were all gone. Then off to the next store.

I started working as a saleslady when I was in high school, part time.  Worked after school and on Saturday.  When I graduated school and started working in an office during the day, I thought I wouldn't have to work in a store part time-but that proved to be wrong when I bought my first new car.  I worked after work and on Saturdays.  Of coure that was back in the days when stores were closed on Sunday. 

When it hit the 1970's and I worked in the office for an Insurance Agent, I will call Mr. H-that's what all his employees called him unless we were introducing him to someone.  Two of us who worked for him , were in our 20's and working part time store sales  job to pay for our new cars. There was a fire in two buildings one Friday evening, down from where we worked.  Mr. H insured one of the buildings.  On Saturday morning, I came to work in my car because I lived further away and the other lady that worked with me came on the bus-she lived closer.  We didn't know our boss was at the building he insured down the street watching us going to our store to work.  As we are doing our jobs in the store- who walks in but Mr. H.  He goes from my counter to her counter.  Finally he stood between our counters and said loud so we could hear him along with half the store, that none of his lady employees worked two jobs and walked out.  We thought when we went to work Monday he was going to fire us.  On Monday, when we were both at his office working, he called us in his private office.  We thought we were fired. He wanted to know why we were working two jobs.  We both explained that we got new cars, which casued a big extra expense, so we had to work two jobs.  He wanted to know how much each of car payments were a month.  On Friday, when we got our pay check (he paid in cash those days), there was an increase.  He called us in and explained that in each of our weekly pay check was a raise.  If we saved this raise money every week-it would be enough to make our car payment every month. Now we were to give two weeks notice and quit our store job.  We did.  I can still remember him standing in his office again telling all us women that worked that no woman that works for him works two jobs.  Those were the days.

When I became a store owner-I didn't like Black Friday.  My store was on Main Street in the town I still live in.  We had very few customers on Black Friday.  I would put up signs, ads in the paper, offer big sales and very few people came.  On Black Friday everyone went to the plazas and big stores.  Store owners had gotten together in our town to have big sales that weekend and nothing.  The streets were bare.  Maybe one or two people would drift in, but that was it.  So I learned that the weekend after Black Friday was our time.  I never bothered having sales on Black Friday.  I made the next weekend, my big sale weekend.  Even today I went down Main Street and there was no one parked on the streets or people walking up and down the sidewalk.  I felt sorry for all the store owners today.  Their weekend will come.  So if you live in a small town-don't forget to go to their stores, too.

I didn't mean to go on so.  Want to tellus  how you handle Black Friday?  Did you stay home or get some of those sales??  Get any special Christmas Gifts or something that you wanted or needed?

Marilyn

JEAN IS COMING !!!!

Since Richard is changing Amish Stories and Jean needed a place to go, she will be coming to New York State of Mind-thanks to Richard. Jean said she would only go a place of Richard or myself. If you have read Amish Stories, you know that I didn't have any idea how to get a blog. Thank you Richard for founding New York State of Mind for me. I never could have done without you. You still will be hearing from me when I run into problems or don't know how to do something. In case you don't who Jean is-Jean is Old Order Mennonite and lives in the Finger Lakes Area of New York State. She, her husband and family own a Dairy Farm. Their main form of transportation is a horse and buggy. Jean tells of happenings in their way of life. She also will answer questions, in her posts, that she receives through comments on New York State of Mind. Jean does not own a computer. She gives her posts to me over the telephone and I will put them on New York State of Mind like we did for Amish Stories. As everyone is use to her posts on Monday morning, her posts will be on Monday, here. We will also be putting on her recipes, too. As Richard will be having Jean's last post on Amish Stories on Deember 17th, Jean will have sort of a post of introduction later that week on New York State of Mind-we haven't set the date yet. With Christmas and New Years coming, the starting of her regular posts will be, Monday, January 7th. We hope everyone will come and join us. We wish Richard, the best on his new Amish Stories venture and we look forward to continuing to be regulars. Thank you Richard, for allowing us to have Jean here. I knew about this since September, but as Richard requested, I didn't tell anyone. See I can keep Secrets !!!!!!!! Marilyn

Do you remember when Pres. Kennedy was Shot?

November 22, 2012 will mark 49 years since President Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas by Lee Harvey Oswald. Do you remember that day? I was in my Freshman year in Latin Class of a Catholic High School. Mother Florence, our principal, annouced over the PA system that the President had been shot. At that time we didn't know how bad President Kennedy was. Our teacher led us in prayer then we returned to our lesson. Shortly, Mother Florence announcced that the President had died. We were to go to the auditorium where a Mass would be held. After Mass the buses were there and we went home. As this happened on a Friday, it was the last we were in school for over a week. At the time, I think we all went through what the Kennedy family did. TV was big then and everything from the shoting to the funeral was on. I can still remember Jacqueline Kennedy getting off Air Force One in the blood stained pink suit that she was wearing. I can remember their son, John Kennedy Jr, just a child, saluting as his father's casket came by. Also remember Oswald getting shot. I can always remember the date, because it happened the day after my Birthday-something I never forgot. There are things in life that happen that we never forget. Do you remember that day? Marilyn