The Rural Voice, 2004-01, Page 37Home Decorating
Putting away the holiday decorations
Patti
Robertson
operates
Classic
Interiors in
Wingham.
By Patti Robertson
Happy New Year! No doubt this
monthly check-in will happen right
around the time you are having
thoughts of putting away all the
Christmas decor you so lovingly and
painstakingly set out only a few weeks
ago. I personally find the more
attention to detail I put into this job
the better my season unfolds the
following year and how readily does
it look merry and bright versus a
"tangle of lights"!
Utilizing the "sleeve" type bags
that newspapers and bagels arrive in
provide perfect storage for strings of
Christmas lights, and winding my
festive ribbons around paper towel
and toilet paper cores keeps them
neat, tidy and curled for next season.
With my extremely large bows used
on exterior decor, I find bringing them
indoors for a thorough drying and
patiently curling up all the long tails
and securing them with paper clips
assures a fresh curly look for next
season.
Ward and I pack all our seasonal
decor into large clearly marked plastic
storage containers. Outside decor gets
packed away in the rafters of our shed
and interior decor find its home in the
storage area beneath our basement
stairs. Even our Christmas tree, (mini
lights intact) gets bound up and
strapped to the shed rafters for safe
and easy out-of-the-way storage.
I analyze what worked this season
to my liking and what ideas I may
wish to incorporate for 2004 in order
to present a more stunning and
interesting presentation. These ideas I
jot down and include in the storage
containers. This way I've got a head
start next year. I find re -arranging my
ornamentation from year to year gives
me a "new" look each Yuletide
without a big cash outlay. It takes a lot
of years to build up a Christmas decor
collection which gets the limited
exhibition of approximately one
month compared to the 11 months in
storage. I don't know about your
budget but personally speaking, re-
using of my knick-knacks in new and
creative ways suits me just fine. I keep
my eyes peeled for end -of -the -season
specials and the dollar stores are
always a great source of inexpensive
additions to my decorative needs. This
leaves me with cash flow to contribute
to one of our local charities to assist
kids whom otherwise would not have
a visit from Santa if we didn't reach
into our pockets.
I find great pleasure in keeping my
collection of baubles built up over the
years. It not only gives my creativity a
workout it also is a great source of
sentimentality. Wonderful memories
are provided as I lovingly handle
ornaments given to me over the years
by relatives, my daughters, friends and
baton twirlers I've taught in years
gone by. I've got the wedding guest
gift ornament from my adopted sister
Sharon's wedding, a sample of the
ornaments we gave to the guests at our
30th wedding anniversary (December
26). Souvenirs of Christmas from St.
Augustine, New Orleans and
Vancouver all hang on our tree, and
most special is a "peace dove" I gave
to my mom for her tree one
Christmas. Mom is no longer with us
but I have the dove hanging from my
tree as a token of Christmases shared.
A great idea I came up with some
years ago is packing all the bits and
pieces into the especially pretty paper
and boxes given to me at Christmas,
so everything is a reminder of great
past Christmas celebrations.
What a wonderful way to welcome
in the New Year by ensuring all is in
order and protected for the year's
upcoming holiday season well ahead
of time.
So this year My Gentle Readers we
will explore bringing joy, passion and
purpose to our surroundings.
My best to each of you for a
healthy, happy a prosperous 2004.0
News
Gaylea Foods
profits up
for 2003
Gaylea Foods marked the 45th
anniversary of its founding kcith
increased sales and profits in 2003,
shareholders of the dairy co-
operative were told at their zone one
annual meeting in Brussels.
December 8.
Sales topped $284 million up
from $271.6 million a year earlier.
Net earnings for the year were nearly
$4 million, an increase of 10 per cent
and up from $2.5 million since
2000. The company's gross margin
as a percentage of sales has increased
steadily in the last three years to 11.3
per cent compared to 10.6 last year
and 9.9 per cent in 2001.
A patronage dividend of $1.645
million will be paid out, up from
$1.485 last year. A dividend of 90
cents a share will be issued to
shareholders.
The highlight of the year for the
company was the opening of its new
state-of-the-art milk drying plant in
Guelph. Originally budgeted for a
$38.5 million dollar investment the
plant eventually came in at $46
million after 30 months of
construction with last minute
changes such as a $3.5 million
automated production system that
helped keep the plant the most
modern in North America. The
system allows supervisors to monitor
the plant's production from their
homes and came in handy when a
gas leak meant the plant had to be
evacuated and supervisors were able
to shut down the equipment from
outside the building.
Gaylea President and CEO
Andrew MacGillivray said the large
investment "shows we are willing to
focus on a product we see as the
future."
Gaylea's new plant helps offset
some of the effect of the World
Trade Organization decision that has
hurt the Canadian Dairy Com-
mission's ability to export powdered
milk by about 70 per cent. he said.
Continued on page 34
JANUARY 2004 33