Monday, March 11, 2024

When Easters Were Spent at Grandmother's House

        My grandmother's house on Easter Sunday was a wonderful place to be. It always seemed to us, her grandchildren, that the world began over again on that day. There was a newness and freshness about everything, from the first moment we opened our eyes to see our crisp, starched petticoats laid out, until the day was over and we put our Easter bonnets away in tissue paper.

The ''nest'' is symbolic for the home or a 
place of safe keeping.

       The details of her house and the way she lived in it are as clear today as they were 25 years ago. In all the years I have never found another home which seemed to emanate so many of the good things of life.
       By Easter Sunday the spring house cleaning was finished. And in New England that means that it was so well done that the place looked newborn. Window panes glistened, brass and copper shone, floors and woodwork were spic and span. On top of all this summer "dust covers" crackling with starch had been placed on every upholstered piece of furniture. Cross-bar dimity and ruffled marquisette bristled at every window with a cleanliness which was invigorating whether the sun shone or not.
       We arrived at the breakfast table in our Easter best. All of this had been laid out the night before, in perfect condition, for the start of church next day. Any one of us who had neglected to sew a button or mend a pocket on Saturday went to church unsewed and unmended, for grandmother's sewing basket went into the closet on Saturday evening and did not reappear until Monday for any emergency. The beautiful, well-planned order of it all is a happy memory after many years.
       We left the house, properly shod, coated and hatted, begloved and behankied, with a wonderful sense of well being. The older ones carried the Bibles they had acquired on previous Easters, the middle-sized ones would get theirs today, and the tiny ones would come home with a brightly blooming geranium, which meant they hadn't missed Sunday school all season. We came back to the house to find it full of wonderful odors. Returning to this house was always a joy. It was a refuge and peaceful haven always.
       On Easter afternoon, when grandmother had had her nap we all went for a walk. We called on the old ladies and gentlemen who were unable to get out in the sun for one reason or another. We brought sugar cookies which grandmother had made the day before, and tiny pots with three or four crocuses which she had started in the cellar months earlier. Year after year she went through the same rite. With 16 grandchildren it was never necessary that she make her Easter parade alone, for as the older ones became too self-conscious with this old-fashioned nonsense, the little ones were enchanted to be permitted to go.
       This type of home, all the activities which went on in it and the good things which came from it, we now understand better than ever. Simple, unassuming and well ordered, based on the fundamental needs of ordinary people, it has come into its own once again.  by Emily Post

Sunday, March 3, 2024

Build a March Hare Toy for A Tot

 THE MARCH HARE by Harold Evans Kellogg

       The figure of the hare, the baseboard, and the wheels are made of half-inch box lumber. It will be necessary for woodworkers to enlarge the elements to scale using either a software program or graph paper before cutting templates.
       With a pencil mark around the figure of the hare, then cut it out with a scroll saw. Be sure to leave the piece of board between the under side of the hare and the straight line.
       The baseboard is 6 1/2 inches long and 3 inches wide. Mark it out with a ruler and a try-square and cut it out with an ordinary saw.
       Make the two wheels by marking with a pencil around a tea cup and then sawing them out with a scroll saw.
       The handle is made of soft wood. It is 3/8 inch square and 16 inches long. A portion 3 inch deep and 2 inches long is cut from one end, as shown in the diagram. The four edges of the handle may be planed, or filed partly round if desired. All pieces should be filed and sandpapered before they are joined.
       Attach the handle and the figure of the hare to the baseboard from the under side, using either small nails or screws. Make a hole about 1/8th inch in diameter in the exact center of each wheel, using either a drill. Then attach the wheels to the baseboard with large-headed nails or screws, leaving them just loose enough to turn easily.
       To decorate the toy you will need a tube of white and a tube of black oil paint, some turpentine to thin the paint, and two small brushes. Paint the handle, the wheels, and the figure of the hare white. Allow the paint to dry for one day. Then apply another coat of white paint to the same portions, and allow it to dry for a day.
       Using a piece of carbon paper, transfer to the figure of the hare the lines representing the ears, eyes, feet, and other markings. With a fine-pointed brush go over these lines very carefully, using the black oil
paint. Now apply the black paint to the baseboard and to the portion between the baseboard and the under part of the hare. Wee Wisdom, 1926

More March Hares:

Froggy


Froggy by F. E. Valetta

Every froggy every spring,
Every eve must shrilly sing;
Froggy, froggy, chirp your 
fill.
We'll all listen - sure we
will.

Froggy, froggy, don't you
know,
Old Jack Frost will nip a toe
If you don't keep in your
nose
While old Jackie's north
wind blows?

Froggy, froggy, bide a wee,
Till greening sward and 
budding tree
And April's warm, life-giving
rain
Make your coming safe 
again.

The Easter Promenade

 
 
Easter Promenade
It's Easter in Washington, late though it comes,
So blare on the trumpets and beat on the drums,
And pin on the orchids so fragile and scentless,
The Easter paraders will move on relentless.
Three hundred and sixty-four days we've been striding
Because of an A card that won't permit riding,
But prop up our feet today? We will have none of it!
Easter's for walking-and just for the fun of it!
Forego that long hike and stay home to put soup on?
Conserve precious leather and 17 coupon?
Ah, no, let us join the Sunday morn marches.
Up with the chins, girls, and down with the arches.
On with the dress with the frou-frou upon it
On with the maddest of mad Easter bonnets.
Add all the touches to prove that we know style,
Watch for the cameraman-give him the profile.
For it's Easter in Washington-on with the strolling.
It's for the pedestrians bells will be tolling.
H.V.

At Easter

At Easter by Kate A. Bradley

I wonder if the anguished moon looked
down
Through all that long last night
And buried in her scarred breast, lean and
brown,
The memory of that sight!
I wonder of th' uneasy birds awoke
As glowed that strange, great light
Which paled the purple east where morn-
ing broke.
And sang, inspired by God's own breath,
"There is no death! There is no death!" 

There is no death, O hearts that throb in
vain
With longing, pulsing tide,
Or in love's fullness, nigh akin to pain,
Unfearing abide;
There is no death, O soul whom niggard
fate
Has left unsatisfied.
The cycles swing and joy those lips await
Who oft have sung on earth in pain,
"I rise again! I rise again!"

No sacrifice, O Self, can blot thee out,
Or satisfy the debt
Which binds thee to the usurer of doubt
With interest of regret!
Still is not life to even thee denied:
One way remaineth yet-
As was thy Christ, must thou be crucified.
But with those wounds in hands and feet,
E'en Self finds resurrection sweet!

Rejoice, O soul whose work is just begun,
That all time lies before!
Rejoice, O heart whose treasure all have
won
That dimmer, farther shore!
The stone that angels moved away that
night
Was rolled from Heaven's door;
Awake and stand forth in hope's sudden
 light,
And sing as sang the birds that morn:
"There is no death, for Life is born!"