A 20th Century CHRISTMAS Greeting

The Old Farmer's Daughter is taking the day off.
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Cutting Down the Tree 2

 It was that time of year again.

Snow was deep.
Radiators were hot. 

The Old Farmer says get on your snowsuits
 and gloves and boots,

time to go GET THE TREE! 

He grabbed the saw and we headed out back.

Between the barns and down the hill, across the creek
and on to the stand of pines.  After picking the perfect tree

 The Old Farmer would cut it down.

The Old Farmer was a smart cookie, like most farmers
and outdoorsmen he was a great conservator
of nature. He never cut a tree down to the ground,
but above the bottom level of branches, trimming
them to leave one or two to grow upwards
into a new tree.

The tree was then brought home, across the field
and the creek, up the hill and between the barns,
to the back porch. There the Old Farmer put it in
a bucket of water to keep it fresh.

And there it sat...and sat....and sat.....
Finally on Christmas Eve it came into the back room
to warm up. Then into the dining room into the bay window
and in the old tree stand

Decorating was a work of art. 
First the strings of lights went on, then the bulbs.
The garlands gracefully placed around the tree and finally the tinsel.
The Old Farmer insisted that it be put on one strand at a time.
If you were caught doing three or four...well, they had to be redone.
The last touch was placing the star on the top! 

 So sitting by the glow of the tree I wish you
A Merry Christmas One and All ! 
(and if not Christmas may you have a good year!)

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Cutting Down The Tree

Once upon a time the Old Farmer and his brother 

found a big old two man saw in barn #2. 

They decided to see how long it would take to cut down
a really big tree with it.
Also providing the Old Farmer's children and the cousins
some entertainment in the effort!

There happened to be a really big old tree in the front woods
 (across from the house).
This tree must have been a good 4' diameter,
 but was largely hollowed on one side. 

Still sturdy but thought to be expendable as a future hazzard
 it was chosen for the experience. 

They started sawing mid morning. 
Continued sawing until lunch. 
Took a lunch break and came back to sawing.
And finally we were all told to stand back, and boom!




I guess it took about 4 hours  and several blisters laterto get through the treeand it gave us many years of fun afterwards, 
climbing up on it and running along the length. 

3  J's

For those who still live in the area, there was a tree towards the front
corner of the woods nearest the house. I have wondered if it has been
cut down with the building of new houses or is still in someones yard? 
Fairly high up the Old Farmer had carved the notation "3 J's".
I don't think it was that high originally, but grew higher as the tree grew.
(three J's referred to the three women in the family whose names began with J)


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Winter Fun On The Farm

Winter Fun On The Farm

The Old Famer's Children saw this as a fun opportunity.
We dug snow caves into the large banks of snow.
Dragged the old wood skis out of barn #2.

Once we were invited to go up on the escarpment
to toboggan down the BIG hill.
 
Someone had a toboggan, a long sled that
many people could get on at once. 
I do not think we made it all the way down
before tipping over!  

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