84-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 21, 1991 On being JU Joyce Bnpp ' a farm wife -And other hazards A sort of guardian angel keeps watch over the open kitchen dining-living area of our vintage farmhouse. The halo above her head is of disheveled, straw-colored hair - with visible rooft, a receding hair line and bald spot not quite con cealed even with careful arrange ment of the remaining tousled locks. Her garb is a lace-trimmed, yellow dress, faded from the years and with a ragged tear on the left sleeve. Permanent smudges mar her smooth, flesh-like tones, though her blue eyes with their dark lashes remain shiny bright. Her lips arc pursed in a permanent, small opening, just the size to accept the small baby-bottle accessory that came with her in the original, cello-wrapped pack aging box. This 12-inch plastic baby is a precious memory from our first born’s childhood. It’s one of the perhaps three dolls remaining from the early years of a more outside-oriented “tomboy,” who /"^LENWOOD ■ VMETAL FORMING 80<j Gieiwood Owe. Eo'i'M P® ■ 75' J ? 717-733-9590 Roofing And Siding 29 Gauge Galvanize 29 Gauge Painted 26 Gauge Galvalume - 26 Gauge Painted New 409 Stainless Steel Roofing All Panels Cut To Length - Coverage 36” Width We Also Stock The Following Items: • Pre-Hung Doors • Ridge Vents • Agri Build Windows • Ridgolators • Roll Door Track • Trolleys and Hardware A new Product In Our Line STANDING SEAM ROOFING Manufactured at the job ute NOW YOU CAN CALL US TOLL-FREE AT 1-800-582-9956 much preferred bam and field action to matemalistic play. In fact, the Farmer retrieved this baby doll some months ago from where it had long ago been aban doned.Jn the old bam. A spare room in the house has been turned topsy-turvy in the last week by a childhood memory - and a dream - of our youngest He has “reorganized” the stuff stashed there to accommodate a platform for the inexpensive electric train of his boyhood, track, engine and cars packed away many years ago. I’ve already been interviewed by this railroad operation as a potential scenery painter, succumbing after years of protests that we have no space for such a layout. As they (and we!) age, the toys of childhood become the treasures of adults. If you don’t believe that, go search out some old toys. A recent look at a friend’s toy farm equip ment collection highlighted the value we adults are putting on our memories. Further questioning of f 'W-'-* ’tt, ; * ■ ■St. v* • several fanner friends confirmed what I suspected. Farmers are still playing with their favorite toys - they’re just bigger sized. Almost every one recalled their hands-down favorite childhood toy was either of the farm equipment or truck lineage. And one farm wife confessed that, though she had her share of dolls, she was more likely to be out with the farm toys. The Farmer admitted that his favorite childhood toy... wasn’t his. His heart belonged to a prized, die-cast metal truck and flatbed trailer toy owned by a cousin. When the cousin’s family moved, and the toy was discarded in the housecleaning process, guess who managed to retrieve'it for count less more hours of play? And, while trying to reorganize the stash misplaced by the impending railroad yard, I found in a drawer two of my own child hood treasures. These two small dolls, one a bride and one dressed in the colorful ethnic garb of a foreign nation, are today’s collec tibles. The bride is somewhat the worse for the wear of numerous play weddings put on by small hands, but her companion in the drawer remains almost like new. How I wish I had back the doll house of my earlier years. My brothers’ windup trains. And the toy farm equipment which doubt lessly helped one to recuperate more quickly after emergency hospitalization as a child. Today’s youngsters seem to get CRAFT-BILT CONSTRUCTION INC. FARM-HOME BUILDING 1242 Breneman Road MANHEIM, PA 17545 PH: (717) 665-4372 BUILDING & REMODELING FOR DAIRY RESIDENTIAL SWINE POLE BUILDINGS BEEF STORAGE It’s a fact! Contaminated water can have a costly effect on your livestock and poultry performance. Our years of experience plus hundreds of farm related treatment systems has proven the validity and practicality of correcting con taminated water. SSB Naw Holland A»e Lancaster, PA 17602 (717) 393-3612 Along Ola. 23 So. Chester Co., PA Dick Breckbill 215-932-3307 Trennis King 717-935-2786 so many gifts, so many things, that one wonders sometimes if any of them have much meaning because of the sheer volume of play items available. Will the fought-over Cabbage Patch dolls of a few years back, the space stations, vid- eo games, the dinosaur figures, or Teenage Mutant Turtles so cur rently “hot” someday stir fond memories when today’s genera tion so eagerly awaiting Christmas NEWARK, De. It’s not coincidence that holly and pine are traditional Christmastide decorations. Early winter is the best time to prune evergreens. “Most evergreens thrive on light pruning this time of year,” said Jo Mercer, University of Delaware Cooperative Extension ornamental horticulture agent. “So you have plenty of opportunity to collect an assortment of greens, berries, cones and flower buds for holiday wreaths, swags and centerpieces.” Mercer suggests pines, arborvi tae, junipers, false cypress hollies, rhododendron, magnolias and spruce as good sources for greens. “But don’t use hemlock or yew,” the agent adds. “Hemlock needles shed too quickly, and yew wills.” Holly stems, pyracantha and cotoneaster berries create festive seasonal detail on a wreath or KEN CLUGSTON (717) 665-6775 Water Quality An IMPORTANT Ingredient In Livestock Management Call us today for treatment of: * Nitrates * Bacteria * Iron * Sulfates * pH - Acidity/Alkalinity Martin Water Conditioning Co, SPECIALISTS IN FARM WATER TREATMENT Willis Sharp Somerset Pa. & Surrounding Counties 1-814-893-5081 We Serve PA & Surrounding States Contact Our Representatives in Belleville, PA Nature Decorate The Holidays Let FRANK A. FILLIPPO, INC. - WANTED - DISABLED & CRIPPLED COWS, BULLS & STEERS Competitive Prices Paid Slaughtered under government inspection Call: Frank Fillippo - Residence - 215-666-0725 Elam Cinder - 717-367-3824 C.L. King - 717-786-7229 A AT f n SvSTf MS Union County, PA Martin Beachy, Jr. 717-966-1191 Virginia Ron Mellinger 703-879-9958 are all grown up? Someday, I’m going to give our children their previous toys at Christmas. Someday. After they’re old enough to really want them. May your holiday season over flow with much love and many happy memories, and may you be blessed with a very Merry Christmas! swag, as do cones from pines, spruce and hemlocks. Add a dis tinctive, natural effect with flower buds of andromedia, rhododen dron and magnolia. “Practice careful pruning tech niques when gathering ever greens,” advises Mercer. “Don’t shear off the tips of branches. Instead make clean cuts at a main branch or node. The plant should look essentially the same when you are done.” Plan to make the decoration soon after gathering the greens, while the branches are still pliable. If this isn’t possible, keep cuttings fresh by moistening the foliage slightly and storing in a plastic bag. Put the bag in an unheated garage or shed. Some people use anti transparent sprays such as Wilt- Pruf on their creations before they attach bows and other ornaments. 740 E. Lincoln Avo. Myeralown, PA 17M7 (717) *6B-7555 Along Rio. 422
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