Happy New Year!
Since I am coming down with a cold and so is His Madness, Burt will be doing all the celebrating this New Year's Eve. He is the one with the bells on.
The Skeleton Crew has been running behind all year long and they got even further behind during the holiday season. (Ivy is STILL working on the decorations.) So they wanted to get a jump on saying Happy New Year since they missed out on wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!
We actually had snow on Christmas in our area this year and the winter wonderland was beautiful, while it lasted.
Then it all melted and produced a dense fog that lasted for two days and grounded all the flights into our neck of the woods. That left our son Andy and his wife Kristin stranded in Chicago. Let's just say after a bus trip to Milwaukee and an even longer drive on a foggy interstate, we were all glad to get home, snow or no snow.
Of course we couldn't let the weather get us down for long. Since there weren't any hats around for His Madness to model while we were out doing our last minute Christmas shopping, he opted for a red bow tie instead.
Finding things to do with visiting family members over the holidays can be a challenge in a small town. During lunch one day, we got into a discussion about the other candy maker doing business here. The Hughes family have been making and selling chocolates out of their basement since the 1940's. Since none of us had ever paid them a visit, we decided there was no time like the present. You have to admit, the whole premise sounds kind of surreal and could we even find it?
Sure enough, after a Google search we did locate Hughes' Home Maid Chocolates and it is indeed operated out of the basement of a modest house situated in a residential neighborhood. Judging by the serial number on the non-working furnace, the home probably dates from the 1920's. That's totally irrelevant but it makes you wonder if the Great Depression inspired them to start up their own business and how do they get on with their neighbors,
It turns out that the maximum capacity for customers is about six, so there's no lingering around or time for indecision. Andy managed the transaction while the rest of us earned a withering look from an entering customer for being an unnecessary waste of space. Apparently, sometimes a line will form that stretches down the block. Aren't small towns just full of character?
Are these chocolates that different from each other? Yes, totally. When we mixed them together, it was pretty easy to tell them apart. There are both excellent in their own way. The other candy maker, Oaks Chocolates, was founded fifty years earlier and they still use their original 19th century German chocolate molds and hand-dip each piece. Maybe, the key to flourishing business is to keep your company in the family, stick to your original recipes and use the best ingredients available.
I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Years Eve. We will be home, probably having an early night after eating too much chocolate.
A belated Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and best wishes for 2025!
See you soon, thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!
