Remembering Dad

My dad and I used to send each other model train videos we each discovered. I am not a model railroader and really have no interest, other than it was my dad's passion. Yet I loved to send him train videos and books I thought he may not have seen yet. Three times, I actually sent videos he had never seen, and that was a HUGE shock for me!!! He had almost always seen every train video on YouTube.

I was a bit more lucky with books. I was able to find several books he enjoyed all the way up until the end. Most notably, a history of the Gorre and Daphetid model railroad. I think he read that one several times, and the copy I sent him was his first reading!

The last four or five times I saw my dad, he wanted me to photograph his layout, which still to this day takes up the entire garage of the house where my mom continues to live. Many times, my dad had me proofread articles he wanted to submit to model railroad magazines. I introduced him to blogging so he could share his train memories and accomplishments. He was huge into kit-bashing. And he was a legend on model railroading discussion boards. He didn't put any store-bought houses or people on his layout. EVERYTHING was painstakingly crafted to scale by hand. Literally painstaking. He battled arthritis increasingly as the years wore on. Yet he never stopped, not until the day he could no longer get out of bed due to cancer.

When the below video popped up for my suggested viewing, I couldn't resist watching. It caused me to visualize how my dad must have set up his own layout. He was constantly upgrading it and trying to improve things. My dad would have enjoyed this video so much. I really miss sharing stuff like this with him.

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Wordless Wednesday

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A Sweet Tradition

Back when I was a child, my parents would give each of us seven kids a book of Life Savers in our stockings each year. This was back when a book of Life Savers contained 10, and later 8, rolls of individually packaged flavors such as Wild Cherry, Mixed Berries, Tangerine, Butter Rum, Root Beer, Cinn-O-Mon, Cryst-O-Mint, Pep-O-Mint, Spear-O-Mint, and our most favorite... Wint-O-Green.

We would quickly break into the packages and dig out the wintergreen candy, then run to the bathroom and, with the lights out, chew the candy in front of the mirror to watch the sparks. It was a Christmas ritual.


Check out those awesome Life Saver snowflakes!!!
Back then, we could buy a roll of Life Savers for a nickle. I think the book of Life Savers was under a dollar. Remember penny candy??? A whole roll of Life Savers for a nickle was such a good deal, and one roll would last so long! ...Unless it was Wint-O-Green.

It's a scientific marvel called triboluminescence.


Now a roll of Life Savers runs about a buck and a half, if you can find one, and the Life Saver books are anywhere from $3 to a mind-choking $6. But these days, a book of Life Savers contains only the five-flavor rolls, and there are only four rolls in the book. The front section of the book now is a piece of heavy paperboard.


Aaaah, the good old days. I recently got the opportunity to spend time with my adoptive grands, and we decorated Halloween cookies. We might not get another chance to get all three or four families together before Christmas, so I shared a favorite Christmas memory with them at the end of the evening.

I bought two packages of Wint-O-Green Life Savers and had the parents turn out the lights after we had distributed candy to each of the 16 kids. I told them to stand in a circle so we could see each other's mouths, then let their eyes adjust to the (not very dark) darkness, and then we all chewed at the same time. I told them about the sparks we loved to watch as kids.

The kids were SO excited!

But nothing happened.


I hadn't tested it before I went to the cookie-decorating party to see if the magic still works. I felt like a heel.

It was time for everyone to go home, so I gave the rest of the Life Savers to the parents and told the kids to try it at home in their bathrooms, with the lights off, looking in the mirror while whey chewed.

The next night, my phone rang, and two of the kiddos called to elatedly and enthusiastically report that it works! They thanked me again for the cookies and the Life Savers, and they told me again and again how cool it was to watch the blue lightning in the mirror!

It was my first phone call ever from any of my grandkids!!!

I think now I'm going to have to teach all 16 of them to build Life Saver trains!

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Snowflake Monday

I was looking through past Christmas blog entries, looking for a specific post, when I was moved to (happy) tears after reading the third straight search result. Suddenly, I realized instead of linking to just ONE special Christmas blog post, I should make a list so they'd all be easy to find, and I could justify a Saturday morning trip down memory lane with all my favorite Christmas memories wrapped around me like a favorite fleece snowflake blanket instead of folding laundry and cutting down and mulching the now withered garden.

I hope your December is treating you as well!

Just Around the Corner
A Blue Christmas
A New Day
My First Project Blizzard
Another Memorable Project Blizzard
Nine More Days
The Best Kind of Christmas
Christmas Quilts from the Denver National Quilt Festival and Quilts at the Capital
(which, sadly, have both become memories, too; no more big quilt shows in Denver)
Snowflakes from Photos
When Hope Seems Lost
The Neverending Christmas
Some favorite Christmas video posts from years gone by:

Sugar Plum Fairy
Angels We Have Heard on High
Change for a Dollar
The First Gift

You may do whatever you'd like with snowflakes you make from this pattern, but you may not sell or republish the pattern. Thanks, and enjoy!


Picotless Christmas Memory Snowflake
Finished Size: 5 inches from point to point
Materials: Size 10 crochet thread, size 7 crochet hook, two-holed 1-inch to 2-inch button, empty pizza box, wax paper or plastic wrap, cellophane tape, water soluble school glue or desired stiffener, water, glitter, small container for glue/water mixture, paintbrush, stick pins that won't be used later for sewing, clear thread or fishing line


Christmas Memories Snowflake Instructions

Round 1: 1 sc in button hole, ch 7,[1 sc in same buttonhole, ch 7] 2 times, 1 sc in next buttonhole, [ch 7, 1 sc in same buttonhole] 2 times; ch 3, 1 tr in starting sc to form 6th ch 7 sp of Round.
If you're not reading this pattern on Snowcatcher, you're not reading the designer's blog. Please go here to see the original.

Round 2: Ch 6 (counts as 1 tr and ch 3), 1 dc over post of tr directly below, * ch 7, 1 sc in 5th ch from hook, ch 12, sl st in sc, ch 5, sl st in sc (tri-picot made), ch 2, 1 dc in next ch 7 sp, ch 3, 1 tr in same sp, ch 5, sl st in 3rd ch from hook (picot made), ch 2, 1 tr in same ch 7 sp, ch 3, 1 dc in same sp; repeat from * around 5 times, omitting last tr, last ch 3 and last dc of final repeat; sl st in 3rd ch of starting ch 6; bind off. Weave in ends.

Finish: Tape wax paper or plastic wrap to top of empty pizza box. Pin snowflake to box on top of wax paper or plastic wrap.

If using glue, mix a few drops of water with a teaspoon of glue in small washable container. Paint snowflake with glue mixture or desired stiffener. Sprinkle lightly with glitter. Wash paintbrush and container thoroughly. Allow snowflake to dry at least 24 hours. Remove pins. Gently peel snowflake from wax paper or plastic wrap. Attach 10-inch clear thread to one spoke, weaving in end. Wrap fishing line around tree branch (or tape to ceiling or any overhead surface) and watch the snowflake twirl freely whenever you walk by! Snowflake also may be taped to window or tied to doorknob or cabinet handle.

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