Behind the Scenes, Part 1: 70 Things You Can Buy In Beaver For A Dollar or Less

One night on Easter break, our family was sitting out on the porch and I was pondering what I should write for next main story in The Missy Times. I asked my siblings if they had any ideas and Phil, my oldest brother came up with a good one:
"Why don't you go around Beaver and see what you can buy for less than a quarter?"

That sounded interesting, but I doubted that there were many things for sale these days for under 25 cents. After concluding that the 3 cent nails at Fischer's Hardware Store would probably be the only item I would find for that low of a price, we raised the limit to a dollar or less.  I finally had a topic!

It was a pleasant warm April day when my friend and I walked up to main street to carry out the survey. I brought along with me a pad of paper and a pencil to record the information, and some money in case I wanted to purchase anything we found.

Starting at Cafe Kolache, Beaver's well-known coffee shop and eatery, we made our way down Third Street stopping at as many businesses as possible. "Can I help you with anything?" many of the cashiers would inquire. I knew must of certainly looked odd that we were walking around their store copying prices down from tags, but I wasn't really in the mood to explain our mission to every single shopkeeper. We preferred to work "undercover", per say. "No thank you, we're just looking, ma'am. (or sir)" I'd answer politely. A few times when prices weren't printed clearly though, we did have to ask the cost of an item. One store, "Kathleen's", was particularly talented at not labeling their merchandise. "How much are these cards? How much is this painted lady bug? What about this candle?" my friend kept calling to the lady at the counter. She answered our inquiries one by one, but  seemed puzzled. "Exactly how much money do you girls have to spend?" she finally said. I explained our task. "Oh, well this isn't that kind of store" she declared almost proudly with a chuckle "We don't have anything here for under a dollar." We did find one item, though. It was a fancy kind of instant hot chocolate called "Cocoa Amore".


Some places really impressed me with their selection: Who knew Pizza Joe's sold espressos? Since when has Pollock's sold so many pens? Why hadn't I ever noticed that the cookies at Kretchmar's were so inexpensive?

And others really disappointed me: When did the previously 99 cent silly bands at the toy store go up to $1.21?  Are sugar-free cookies all Cafe Kolache can offer for under $1? Why can't Philly Originals lower the prices on their drinks?

At the end of the day, this had to be one of the most enjoyable Missy Times surveys I've ever done. My friend I both agreed that it was a lot of fun.

Here are a few last notes:

• In only a little over an hour, we collected info from nearly 20 stores.

• I ended up buying an egg roll from China house for Grace to try, a postcard from the Hostess Shoppe to send and a star cookie from the bakery to munch on. All were very successful purchases.

• One of the few stores we had to leave out was Beaver Super, on account of their overwelming array of products.

• When I posted the results in The Missy Times, I forgot to mention that we didn't include tax. If you want to come to Beaver to buy these items yourself, make sure you bring a few extra pennies. 

Stay tuned for "Behind the Scenes, Part 2" for more info on my trip to Baltimore.

Put Away the Shorts and Bring Out the Shovels!

Just one week ago, as the red mercury in the thermometers shot up past the 50 and 60 degree marks, spring fever was spreading throughout the town. The brown, dry grass looked as if it were taking a long, deep breath, rejoicing in it's freedom from the suffocating layer of heavy snow, which, except for a few piles of slushy mush, was completely gone. The birds sounded as if they were bursting with joy as they sang up in the trees. People all around Beaver were outside enjoying the weather but most were seen on River Road riding bikes, walking their dogs, jogging, or just taking a brisk stroll. Everyone had been infected, and there was no cure for this disease.

For those couple of days, I was wearing shorts. Less than a week later, I was wearing hat, gloves, and snow pants.

 Just when we had all truly believed that spring was coming like the groundhog had said, winter came flying back like a slap in the face. It was Monday, and the weather forcasters were only predicting some freezing rain and sleet for that evening. That was a mistake. By mid-afternoon fluffy white snow was falling...... and sticking. The shovels were brought back out from the garage and my dad sent my brother and I out to clear the front walk at about 6:30pm, when at least 3 inches already covered the ground . The faster I shoveled, the faster the snow fell and by the time I was done, a fresh dusting of snow had already accumulated on the sidewalk.

The next morning, the world was completely white. Overnight, a total of seven inches had been dumped on the same town which had been basking in the warmth of spring only days earlier.

At first, I was disappointed. Winter will never end! I thought. But soon I was enjoying the snow as I always do. I went outside with the other neighborhood kids and we worked for hours building an igloo and later, a snow man.

The temperature is creeping back up into the 40's and it looks like we're headed for another loooong, slow, thaw. For now, we're stuck with winter again. But while its here I'll try to enjoy it, for the real spring will be back before long.



Have you always wanted to build an igloo? You should! It sounds like it would be hard, but actually, if you have enough people to help, it isn't. Here's how:


1. Take some shovels and mound up a huge pile of snow


2. As you're piling, use a squirt bottle to spray water onto the loose bits of snow make it frozen so that it stays packed into place


3. After your pile is big (it has to be BIG if you want people to fit inside) trace out a doorway and start chipping and digging out a hole that will be the room. Remember to spray the roof and walls as you're digging so that the whole thing does not cave in on top of you!


4. Contiue to thicken the outside igloo walls as needed so that when carving your room, your shovel does not break through and puncture the whole thing


5. Carve the room to your desired size while scraping out all excess snow


6. Put on finishing touches and have fun!

Happy Valentines Day!

How was your Valentines Day? I hope it was just LOVEly!
Here is what I did to celebrate the holiday:

It did not take long after I woke up for my Valentines Day to begin. As I walked down the stairs, I found a red envelope waiting for me on top of the piano. It was a card from my dad. Every year its his project to buy us all Valentines. Its fun to look through the Valentine bag from the attic and read all my old cards from past February 14ths.

After my piano lesson my mom and I drove over to Rosalinds Candy Castle to buy some Valentine sweets. Inside the small store, a line of people waiting to purchase last minute suprises wrapped around the candy displays stocked with Valentine confections complete with colorful red and pink wrappers. There were little boxs of chocolate, heart shaped lollipops, candy berries, and little bags of candy hearts. Most of the people were choosing from the wide variety of gourmet chocolates at the counter or ordering a box of delicious chocolate covered strawberries. We left the store with the latter, two bags of candy berries, and some little raspberry milk chocolates for one of my friends.

Later on after school, I had fun going around the neighborhood delivering my tiny Martha Stewart Valentines which my mom (who has very good taste) found for me at Michael's craft store. I think they're my favorite ones yet! They're so cute! I had a good time trying to think up rhymes such as
"Roses are Red
Violets are blue
Candy is sweet
and I hope your Valentines Day is too!"
to put inside.

At about 5:00 I went over to my friend's house to bake some Valentine sugar cookies. We had a good time experimenting different ways to cut and decorate them (see pictures). One of the cookies turned out to be a giant pink heart with colored sprinkles rolled inside the dough and we even tried baking conversation hearts into some of the others. The funny thing was that even though they melted a little bit into the cookie, their texture didn't change. They still felt hard and crunchy!

After I had finished my dinner back at home, another one of my friends brought me over a big heart shaped Valentine.

The day concluded with me presenting my parents

 their special cards and then watching the new episode of "Pawn Stars" before bed.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing about my Valentines Day and I hope that yours was just as happy.

Candy Cane Christmas Cookies

Christmas cookies, mmmmm...... warm and yummy and sweet. Cookies at anytime of the year are absolutely scrumptious, but there's something about cookies at Christmastime that's extra special.
Well, we hadn't made any kind of Christmas cookies lately, and I'd been waiting to make them, so while my mom and sister were at the store I made a batch of candy cane cookies all by myself for the first time.
Okay, okay, I'm sorry! I know us kids aren't supposed do this kind of stuff without adult supervision, but don't worry, Dad was home and I didn't use the oven till mom (the real cookie expert) got back.
It was a lot of fun to make the red and white dough and then twist them together to make the candy canes. I even got to add little bits of real candy canes and peppermint flavoring. Everything went smoothly, except for a little incident with the mixer which envolved pieces of dough flying everywhere when I thought it was turned off, (shudder) that was close! 
They turned out to be very tasty. Mom and Gina said I was a great baker (thanks guys!)
and that may be a bit of an overstatement, but I'm really proud of my candy canes that doubled both as treats and as a mark of  my first solo baking project.

Ever tried these cookies? They're easy to make! This isn't the exact recipie I used, mine was from Mom's old cookbook, but its pretty close.
 http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/candy-cane-cookies/93832e29-3b4f-4977-ae5a-9820053b254c

Merry Christmas Cookies!

The Bridge

Recently, I wrote two pieces for this local literary publication which just came out yesterday. The first article, as you will see, is on the front page. My second piece, "Late On A Chilly Fall Day" is found under the "stories" section.
Both were featured in previous issues of the MT.
http://thebridge15009.wordpress.com/

Puzzles and Paintings

"The General and Madame came home on Christmas Eve, and such a racket the servants made, for they were glad of their coming!" That lively account of George and Martha Washington's post-war return to Mount Vernon was one of many contemporary sources John drew upon to bring this stirring scene to life. "I went to Mount Vernon in winter," he says, "and shot many rolls of film at every hour of the afternoon, looking for the most dramatic light. The roof is white now, but back then the shingles were red, so for a visual counterpoint I took the liberty of giving Washington a bold red manteau. You'll notice there are no wreaths, candles or other festive display to greet the general this Christmas Eve. Decorating for the holidays did not become an established American tradition until the 19th century."    -ArtUsa.com

A while ago, my mom bought a 750 piece puzzle which is a smaller version of this painting by John Buxton. I just started working on it on Sunday, and it's coming along really well. Its such a cool picture with Washington looking so stately and regal and all the colors so warm and bright, though wintery too. I don't believe many people think very much about this event in his life, on Christmas Eve, just after the war had ended.

I had never seen this piece of art before but now I'm really enjoying it as I fit it together, piece by piece.

Above: "He Returns Victorious" by John Buxton