Jack Valentine...A Quaint Old Tradition!

Punch-out Valentines were my favorite!

I loved Valentine's Day as a child.  In school we would spend a day decorating old shoe boxes with construction paper hearts and stickers.  We struggled cutting out hearts with those blunt scissors and usually got more paste in our hair than on our boxes.  There were usually a few kids who enjoyed the sweet minty taste of the school paste...myself included!  In my mind my finished box was a work of art...but probably looked something like this...

I liked to wander around the room admiring...critiquing...all the other boxes.  I imagined that there would be a special card left in my box by a secret admirer.

Typical Grade School Party.

The 60's were my era.

The party above was probably a lot more fun than the ones I remember.  The last hour of school was set aside for us to line up and "deliver the mail."  We all seemed to get an equal amount of cards and teacher made sure no one was left out.  I worried about that...there were usually a few quiet and shy children in the class.  I wasn't quiet, but I was a bit shy.  We usually got a heart-shaped cookie that someone's mom had made, then we gathered up our boxes and went home.  It was fun to sit on the floor and open the cards.  Some had a few conversation hearts sealed inside the envelope, but I don't remember a lot of candy in the stores, except for the heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.  I read each card with Mickey Mouse, Fred Flintstone and others seeking a secret message from my admirer, but "I Choo-Choo-Choose You" wasn't exactly a confession of undying love!

Jack Valentine...

Who is Jack?  

Until this morning I had never heard of a character called "Jack Valentine."  I was online looking for Valentine's trivia as a possible blog topic, when I came across several mentions of Jack. Jack is a folk character from Norfolk in eastern England.  He is sometimes known as Old Father Valentine. In Victorian times in Norfolk, Valentine's Eve was almost as important to children (and hopeful lovers) as Christmas with anonymous gifts from secret admirers or parents.

Dressed in a top hat and tails, Jack Valentine would knock upon the door and leave presents for the expectant child.  Sometimes Jack would play tricks upon the children and tie string to the gift, so when the child reached for it, he would jerk it away.  After the children were thoroughly frustrated, Jack would let go of the string and let them have the gift.  But they must never look for him.  Some children found the idea of Jack a bit frightening.

This story of Jack brought back a few Valentine's memories from my own childhood.  As much as I enjoyed the school party...it was the evening that I liked most.  When I got home from school, my mom would be putting sugar cookies on paper plates for our friends. In my old neighborhood in American Fork, it was popular to leave cards or cookies on a neighbor's porch, ring the doorbell and run.  This was also when we gave cards to children that were not in our classes.  Some tricksters would tie a string to a card and jerk it away when you tried to pick it up.  Does this sound familiar?  I had never heard of Jack Valentine...yet it seems his spirit crossed the ocean with the British pioneers who settled my home town.  What do you know?  I learn something new every day!

I hope you have fun memories of Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's, Sisters!

P.S.  The February "Eating an Elephant" Goals link is on the right side of the page.

October Bite...Fall Fun!

Trunk or Treat!!

October is here at last!

Would you be surprised to hear that October is my favorite month of the year?  Naw...me neither!  October is not just Halloween; it's sunny days with a chilly bite in the air.  The month brings with it football games, raking leaves and General Conference Weekend.  I love taking drives up into the mountains, even though the turning leaves are past their prime and have moved down into the valley.

October makes me crave chili and sloppy joes...and doughnuts...the menu from childhood Halloween carnivals at Harrington and Alpine Elementary Schools.  I will always associate these foods with October. 

A week or so ago, I went to the Dutch Oven Cooking Workshop.  It was held on a rainy night at the church picnic pavilion.  It felt a bit like roughing it.  The pavilion was wrapped in tarps to keep the wind and rain at bay.  Bundled in coats and jackets, folks were busily helping put the meals and desserts together in the big iron pots.  It was kind of fun and we learned a lot. Larry Walker is an amusing and informative teacher. The situation reminded me of pioneers on the trail working together to set up camp and prepare a communal meal.  I wondered what it would be like to crawl into a cold tent or wagon box afterward and try to get warm enough to fall asleep.  I liked the spirit of cooperation and fellowship.  If hard times come, I know that my neighbors will work together to help each other get through it.

October Goals...

"When people are able but unwilling to take care of themselves, we are responsible to employ the dictum of the Lord that the idler shall not eat the bread of the laborer."

--Elder Boyd K. Packer

Spiritual Goal:

Watch one more session of General Conference than you normally would.

Provident Living Goal:

Make a goal to read 30 minutes/day to your children or grandchildren.  If you have no children to read to, make a goal to read at least 30 minutes/day just for pleasure.

Storage Goal:

• 50 cans of soup, stew, or chili per person.
• 10 pounds of cheese per person.
• Shaving supplies.
• Dish soap.

72 Hour Kit:

• 4 granola bars per person.
• 2 sticks beef jerky per person.
• 1 package chewing gum per person.
• Hard candies or lollipops...at least 12 per person.  
• Check batteries for lights and radio...replace if needed.
• Conference weekend is good time to update your kit and rotate food items.

Fall Fun...Hobo Party!

The Official Hobo Uniform...

Driving in the canyon with the windows open one sunny afternoon in the fall, I caught the scent of wood smoke and leaves that had been crushed underfoot.  I was transported in memory to my teenage years and an MIA activity one autumn in the canyon.  It was a hobo party at Granite Flats.  We dressed in our raggedy jeans and old flannel shirts.  The leaders had set up camp with a crackling bonfire.  Dutch oven pots of chili bubbled enticingly.  We ate out of tin cans and old pie tins...nothing ever tasted so good!  I don't remember what games we played or anything else... other than the cute boy I sat next to on the way home.  What I do remember was how content I was to be in the mountains and how the wood smoke brought tears to my eyes...happy tears.  I'm sure I am looking back through rosy lenses, but an October day can do that to me.

Hobo Bindles.

A bindle is the stereotypical pack carried by a hobo.

A hobo with a bindle was often called a "Bindlestiff."

I love Wikipedia...lol!

Wouldn't it be fun to have a Hobo Party in the canyon with your children or grandchildren this fall?

Just pack up the dutch oven and dress in your finest raggedy clothing.  Eat chili or hobo stew out of pie tins and make s'mores.  Each child could have their own bindle.  Wrap up individual packets of marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers in a banana and let the child use the stick for roasting his marshmallows.  What better way to spend a sunny October weekend?

Made from real hobos?

Happy October, Sisters

Fun with Composition Books!

Young Women Camp Journals
Tuesday night the Young Women are going to be decorating the covers of those old faithful composition books to be journals for camp.  If your daughter is in YW could you please make sure she has what she needs...a list should have been given to her.  The books are being provided.

Ever since I was a young teen I have loved decorating  notebooks to be a kind of "smash book" for my dreams and ideas.  I wrote poetry, copied John Denver song lyrics...and designed bridesmaids dresses for my future wedding...lol!  They were also scrapbooks of pictures cut from magazines like Seventeen.  I still have these notebooks.  Looking through them is like a nostalgic trip through my adolescent dreamland.

A Few Examples... 

Two of the books I decorated for my granddaughters.

They were "back-to-school" gifts.

I bought a whole stack of the black and white books at Walmart

on clearance for 40 cents each.

The back of the books.

I used pictures found online and scrapbook paper.

I chose a Paris theme for some I made as gifts for my VT sisters.

"Moulin Rouge"

This is a small version I have had in my purse since 2007.

I have six years of Christmas lists in this little book...plus to-do lists and plans.

It's fun to mix colors and patterns.

The girls can use rick rack or ribbon for trims.

 

I have seen some decorated books on Pinterest that are works of art!  I think I am more of a "less is more" kind of girl.  What is important is that the girls have fun expressing their own tastes and personalities.  If desired...when the girls bring them home...a coat of mod podge brushed over the front and back will help seal and protect her journal.  Which is how my little pocket journal has lasted these many years!

 

On a related note...

Pinterest Pin of the Week!

 

Life Story Pages to Print

Becky Higgins Project Life Blog 

In Becky's blog she posted about a YW journaling activity...it was several years ago...but the pdf files are still there and active.  I thought these pages were great for getting started in writing one's personal history.  There are two versions...one for teens and one for adults.  I have downloaded them to my computer to print later.

By the way, the binders are “half pint” binders, or in other words, they hold papers that are 5 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ (which is half the standard size). If you can’t find them at your local office supply shop, look online. Just do a search for “5.5 x 8.5 binder”.

 

Becky's Young Women decorated their covers at the activity as well as beginning to "fill in the blanks."

 

Happy Spring!