Innehållsförteckning för Decembre 2015 - Janvier 2016 från Country

Instead of buying my kids’ Halloween costumes the morning of trick-or-treating, I got them two weeks in advance (my daughter strutted her stuff in a princess costume while my son did his best to be a scary giraffe). Right after that purchase I created the family Christmas card, updated my mailing list and picked out the cookies the kids will “help” me bake. I’m planning for birthdays, too, and not just the family’s. A big one coming up this summer is the National Park Service’s 100th. To celebrate, Country is now gathering stories from readers about the parks and putting together a collection to run in the June/July issue—find out how to submit your stories on page 64. We’re also sponsoring a photo contest called “Our National Parks.” Go to…

Winter in New England is about as charming as it gets. The first snow of the year gently brushes strokes of white along country roads, churches and homes dating back to the 1700s. The atmosphere is cozy and warm—defying the cold in the rebellious spirit of this region. Just when you think it can’t get any warmer, Christmas adds another layer. The fragrance of fresh-cut pine trees blends with the crisp air. Festoons of lights and wreaths on homes and businesses create a feeling of welcome that will have Scrooges singing carols. A New England Christmas is a sight to behold. Some say that Woodstock, Vermont, is one of the best places to experience it. Located in central Vermont on the edge of the Green Mountains, it’s known for its…

My grandmother Blanche died in 1973, leaving behind loving memories, grieving hearts and many beautiful creations, including an unfinished quilt top pieced together from scraps of vibrant-colored fabric in the Grandmother’s Flower Garden pattern. My mother placed the quilt top with some other items on a shelf, where it lay for many years. In 2011 my mother turned 78. We wanted to give her a special Christmas gift, and the long-forgotten quilt top came to mind. Could we find someone to finally finish it? My sister remembered someone in Colville who had a quilting machine and was starting a business. I talked with the young lady, and she was willing to at least look at the top, though she wasn’t convinced she could do it. My dad, who by now…

(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) 1. Publication Title: Country 2. Publication #001-071 3. Filing Date: 9/30/15 4. Issue Frequency: Bi-monthly 5. No. of Issues published annually: Six 6. Annual Subscription Price: $19.98 7. Complete mailing address of known office of publication: 1610 N. 2nd Street, Suite 102 Milwaukee, WI 53212-3906 Contact Person: Jim Woods Telephone: 888-861-1265 8. Complete mailing address of headquarters or general business office of publisher: 1610 N. 2nd Street, Suite 102 Milwaukee, WI 53212-3906 9. Full names and complete mailing addresses of publisher, editor and managing editor: Russell S. Ellis, 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Marija Andric, 1610 N. 2nd Street, Suite 102 Milwaukee, WI 53212-3906 Lori Vanover, 1610 N. 2nd Street, Suite 102 Milwaukee, WI 53212-3906 10. Owner: RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC 1610 N.…

It’s often been said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This was true, literally, for Doug Leen. It was 1973 and the end of another busy summer season in Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, where he was stationed as a seasonal park ranger. While cleaning horse stalls, something caught his eye: a 1930s promotional park poster, tacked to a wall and laced with cobwebs, destined for the burn pile. He really liked the vintage style of the poster, so he asked if he could keep it to hang in his Seattle home. He had no idea that this event would completely change the course of his life. The poster he saved that day turned out to be an original— the first in a series of 14 designs created…

MYSTERY TOOL In the 1950s, the largest dairy farm outside the Twin Cities of Minnesota was converted into a school, and several of these were in the attic of a barn. Each has five wheel-shaped parts that can be connected into a stack by threading a wire through their centers. Assembled, each measures 15 inches tall by 13 1/2 inches wide, and all of it seems to be made from 10-gauge wire, now rusty. Can anyone identify it? TRACY BLATTNER 3565 Dekalb Lane Neenah WI 54956 tlblattner@gmail.com It might be…a pedal for a spinning wheel! Kirk told us he got many guesses, everything from “it’s some sort of key” to “it’s a step.” From all the guesses, he’s concluded that it most likely is a pedal for a spinning wheel.…

We lived on a ranch nestled between two mountains, and when I was a toddler, Mama took me along to the barnyard for morning chores. Once she was feeding the hens and our big white tom turkey appeared. He took one look at me, a critter about his size, and must have thought I was another turkey invading his territory. He spread his wings wide and started flapping. Mama quickly scooped me up in her arms, and I made careful note of that tom. Months passed and warm weather gave way to chilly winds. A snowy blanket shrouded the valley as Christmas approached. Daddy saddled his horse and rode out to cut down the perfect juniper for our tree. We added ornaments and strings of colored beads, and with the…

Dear Emily: Besides killing germs and preventing infection, does hydrogen peroxide have any other health benefits? - Mary P. Ohio Dear Mary: Medical science has discovered that hydrogen peroxide is more than just a disinfectant. While researching my latest book, I learned that many doctors use hydrogen peroxide to treat a wide variety of ailments, such as heart problems, clogged arteries, chest pain, allergies, asthma, migraine headaches, yeast infections, type II diabetes, emphysema, chronic pain syndrome and other ailments. I also found out that hydrogen peroxide is involved in virtually all of life’s vital processes. It stimulates the immune system, helps your body fight off viruses, parasites and bacteria. It also regulates hormone levels and is involved in the production of energy in your body’s cells. Average consumers are also…

Hydrogen peroxide is trusted by every hospital and emergency room in the country for its remarkable ability to kill deadly germs like E. coli and the swine flu virus. In fact, it has attracted so much interest from doctors that over 6000 articles about it have appeared in scientific publications around the world. Research has discovered that hydrogen peroxide enables your immune system to function properly and fight infection and disease. Doctors have found it can shrink tumors and treat allergies, Alzheimer’s, asthma, clogged arteries, diabetes, digestive problems and migraine headaches. Smart consumers nationwide are also discovering there are hundreds of health cures and home remedy uses for hydrogen peroxide. A new book called The Magic of Hydrogen Peroxide is now available that tells you exactly how to use hydrogen…

In each issue we hide a needle like this one (though it may be a different size, black or white). If you find it, enter online at country-magazine.com by clicking the Contests link at the top of the page. Or send a postcard with the page number to NEEDLE CONTEST, COUNTRY, 1610 N 2ND ST STE 102, MILWAUKEE WI 53212-3906. We’ll draw 24 winners from all the correct entries. Winners receive a one-year subscription to Country Extra. In the last issue, the needle was hidden on page 30. You’ll find a list of last issue’s winners at country-magazine.com. No purchase necessary to enter to win. Purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes is open to legal residents age 18 years or older of the U.S., its territories and…

Teresa Ambord works from her home in rural northern California. As she writes, she’s surrounded by a posse of three small dogs who inspire her life as well as her writing. Her parents taught her to love dogs, and it was their dog, Mercy, that you’ll meet on page 66. Bill Sparling grew up in a little town in California and became a city dweller in high school. But he always longed for the quiet peace of country life. Finally, in 2001, he and his wife moved to the country. Read about his most memorable Christmas tree on page 22. Doug Leen is a former ranger with the National Park Service. He’s spent years saving and reproducing posters created by artists for the Works Progress Administration. See a selection of…

Cranberry Orange Cheesecake PREP: 45 min. • BAKE: 1 hour + cooling • MAKES: 12 servings 1 cup finely chopped pecans 2/3 cup chocolate wafer crumbs 1/4 cup butter, melted 3 tablespoons brown sugar 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened 2 cartons (8 ounces each) mascarpone cheese 11/4 cups sugar 2 tablespoons cornstarch 2 teaspoons orange juice 1 teaspoon orange extract 4 large eggs, lightly beaten 3/4 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce 1/4 cup dried cranberries 1 tablespoon water 1/4 cup chocolate ice cream topping, warmed DIRECTIONS 1. Place a greased 9-in. springform pan on a double thickness of heavy-duty foil (about 18 in. square). Securely wrap foil around pan. 2. Combine the pecans, wafer crumbs, butter and brown sugar. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of…

CHRISTMAS SNAPSHOTS ’Tis the season to submit your favorite holiday photos to us! See how on page 64.…

Hydrogen Peroxide Knocks Out the Toughest Cases of Athlete’s Foot When I read, “treat athlete’s foot,” I had to try hydrogen peroxide. I have been fighting with this for four months. I tried every kind of salve from the drug store with no luck. But when I put hydrogen peroxide on my feet it has started to go away. So now I need two books on hydrogen peroxide. One for my best friend. They are like having a doctor in your home. - M. R. Sun Prairie, WI Medical Kit Essential: Hydrogen Peroxide Hydrogen peroxide was in my medical kit in scouting for over 50 years, we used it for everything medical as well as an antiseptic for all our food prep utensils and so many other things. Wonderful product.…

During the Christmas season in 2012, my husband, Ken, and I came home from church and noticed something on the front porch. We walked over to it and saw it was a basket of goodies wrapped and tied with a beautiful bow. The attached note read “On the first day of Christmas.” We were thrilled someone was thinking of us, especially after losing our daughter in September. The next night, we checked and sure enough, there was a “second day of Christmas” gift. Try as we might, we couldn’t catch the elf or elves who left those gifts and the ones that followed over the next nine nights. Finally, on the twelfth night, the elves knocked on our door. Our friend Charlotte Everett and her children Parker and Reese stood…

Our national parks belong to all of us, and we know many of you have taken photos in these beloved places. Now you have a chance to share those special moments with us. Enter your best snapshots (high-resolution JPEG digital files, please) in Country’s Our National Parks Photo Contest. The grand prize winner earns $500! When picking photos to enter, remember: The National Park Service cares for more than 400 national monuments, seashores, lakeshores, historic sites, and other places. Choose freely. The categories are Scenery, People and Wildlife. We love a breathless moment of a chipmunk blinking at you—or a group photo of everyone smiling and hugging after a hike—as much as we love those heart-soaring shots of landscapes. Maybe your favorite photo is your family waving with a gorgeous…

Caroling Characters My children loved singing Christmas songs when they were little, but they didn’t always get the words right. Vivia had her own version of “Jingle Bells”: “Bells on cocktails ring, making spirits bright.” Donnie loved “Up On the Housetop,” singing, “Ho! Ho! Ho! Whose wooden nose?” And his version of the Rudolph song ended with, “How all the reindeer loved him, as they shouted out with fleas.” Donna McGuire Tanner OCALA, FLORIDA Getting the Hook During Christmas Eve service at church, the youth pastor called all the children up to the front for a homily on candy canes. She asked, “Can anyone tell me what shepherds used their staffs for?” Immediately one confident youngster raised her hand: “Staff meetings!” Frances Law RICHLAND, WASHINGTON Mighty Weird Mittens Dylan, my…

When the young donkey Daisy May came to us through a foster home that rescued her from neglect, even her hooves were curled up. By the looks of her growing belly, I thought she might be pregnant. With no prior donkey experience, I was unprepared for what might come next. After a difficult labor, Daisy’s baby was born. I thought the poor thing was dead. I planned to put the loss behind us and make sure she never got pregnant again. Just then, I heard a gurgling noise. I couldn’t believe that baby was breathing and blinking his big brown eyes at me! We called him Samson, and of course I became his mother as much as Daisy was. I prepared to bottle-feed him, but Samson quickly found his natural…

Hydrogen Peroxide kills and reduces drug resistant bacteria by 64% Experts in infection prevention and control at Johns Hopkins Hospital have found hydrogen peroxide to be highly effective at killing and preventing the spread of drug-resistant bacteria. Originally inspired by success in containing the dangerous SARS virus in Singapore, Johns Hopkins was able to reduce the spread of some of the most toxic drug-resistant bacteria by 64% through hydrogen peroxide vapors. While it’s not recommended that consumers begin vaporizing hydrogen peroxide on their own, this study illustrates the germ-killing and life-saving power of hydrogen peroxide which is why it’s strongly recommended that readers pick up The Magic of Hydrogen Peroxide immediately. Hydrogen Peroxide: the First Responder of the Immune System New research conducted at Harvard Medical School and University of…

WHAT WE NEED Include your name, daytime phone number, email address and mailing address with each submission, including emailed submissions. WHAT YOU’LL GET We pay $250 for story submissions that run a page or more when published. Contributors whose jokes and stories are published in Country Chuckles get $25. Items published in Mailbox and Little Humor earn a gift certificate for a one-year subscription to Country Extra . Most other contributors will receive a dinner triangle upon publication. SAVE YOUR STAMPS We do not return unsolicited materials. Send good-quality copies of photos (keep the original!), or email high-resolution JPEG files. Our small staff can’t acknowledge receipt of submissions, but we’ll let you know if they’re published. WHERE TO FIND US Send submissions to COUNTRY, 1610 N 2ND ST STE 102,…