Old Paper Fans

The other day Freddie and I ate lunch at a local restaurant that is decorated in antiques and various old fashion things. Many of the things are reproduction but they still hold a lot of memories for the people our age or older.
One thing they had was a basket of cardboard fans that you could take for free. Oh, what memories that "triggered!" You know the type of fan I am talking about--the cardboard is stapled to a piece of wood (reminds me of a tongue depresser) and most would be advertising some business. The ones that I recall growing up usually advertised some church or a funeral home.
Our little church would have the fans placed on all of the pews and everyone used them to try a create a breeze while the preacher gave his sermon--poor guy would be sweating up a storm, since he couldn't use a fan.
I guess that the little things of long ago makes as big of a impression on us as the big things..The fans are cute and I have bought several through the years at antique stores to display in our home but I sure have no desire to use one again---this air conditioning suits me just fine!!!

Facebook

Folks, it is amazing the silly things that you find yourself doing in your old age--I am not THAT old but sure as heck not as young as I use to be.. I have FINALLY joined the rest of this "high tech" world and got myself a facebook page..said that I was not going to do it as I had too many other things to do--even thought that it was sort of silly to do such a thing, if you wanted to keep up with someone just call them. Then there is the "thing" about long lost friends or family finding you on facebook--well there may be a reason that you have not kept in touch, huh?
Of course, I was clueless about even setting up the page but my hubby was glad to do it for me..I really have a hang-up about having my picture taken so there are not all that many around here--he said that it wasn't necessary that I have one for my page but I did not pay much attention to him, heck , he has a cow for his photo. I considered a photo of one of my quilts but could just hear some wise crack about me "going to pieces". FINALLY, found one with my mouth closed--harder to do than you may think. Freddie thought it was pretty funny that I seem to be talking in most of the photo's.
Every time I get a notification that so & so wants be my friend, I think to myself "I thought we already were and have been for 40 years!'
Most all of my family have their own page and it will be nice to keep up with them on a daily basis--
I am right pleased with myself, I have now joined the facebook crowd and I learned to text this year (takes me forever but it gets done)-- if I can only learn how to work the 5 controls that operates our t.v. I will be in "high cotton!"

We have the Plum Jelly!

I just had to let you know that the wild plum jelly is a "done deal" as of today. Before my sweet hubby left out this morning he asked for a couple of sacks and told me he was going to pick some wild plums--I would say for me but I am postive it was for a certain little 9 year boy that loves the jelly. I questioned him about taking something to cut the grass and weeds back where he could see what he MAY be stepping on---he rejects that thought and tells me that he planned on driving his four wheeler as close to the plum thicket as he could--hopefully to avoid the chiggers. He sprays repellent on himself and off he goes.. A man on a mission..
It was early but the day was already HOT. He was gone so long I began to worry---not at all unusual for me...worry is my middle name. I was "fretting" over the snakes that would seek out the shade of the plum bushes--I thought of him getting over-heated and having a heart attack, oh the list goes on and on--
All of my anxiety was for naught--thankfully--he returned with the wonderful fruit -- he had gotten overheated, and in spite of spraying with repellent and driving up close to the thicket he is COVERED with chiggers and as for the snakes, I just know that they were there but it was obviously way to hot for them to bother with the poor ole soul picking the plums.
We rush to town and buy the Sure-Jel, sugar and some canning jars. Now it is my turn to finish our jelly making venture. I got them all washed, boiled,drained off the juice and began the jelly making process...
Tonight our house smells like "yummy" wild plum jelly, the pretty red jelly is cooling in the jars and sounding like 4th of July fireworks when the lids make the load "POP"--letting me know that they are sealing.
I suppose that I will have to make homemade bicuits for us to sample the "fruit of our labor" on.. We will have to get Cade over here first, after all he was our inspiration for this little "hoop-la".

Canning Corn

After talking about the plum jelly, I got to thinking about the time that Mom showed me how to can corn. Now, I will confess right up front that canning corn really was not at the top of my list of things to do---I like Del Monte corn just fine. Freddie and I had been married for 5 or 6 months and Mom came out to stay the day with me,which was great--she opens the trunk of her car and it looked like someone had dumped a trailer full of corn on the cob in the trunk--she was so happy to be the bearer of this mother load of corn!! I asked her what on earth would we do with that much corn--she looked at me like I was a mite narrow between the eyes and says "Well, can it of course!" Silly me --17 years old I should have known..
Well. we get a big wash tub --put it under neath a mesquite tree by the house--add a couple of chairs for us and some big bowls to place the corn in, We shucked the corn first (peeling off the husk)--Now came the fun part--(I lie a little) she showed me how to hold the big butcher knife--resembling a small machete in my opinion and we cut the corn very close to the cob. Started at the top of the cob and brought the knife down to the bottom. She then told me to flip the sharp side of the knife upward and run the backside of the knife over the cob to extract the sweet juice from the corn, This may sound very simple but let me tell you for certain that it turned out to be a back breaker, when you handling enough corn to supply H.E.B.
FINALLY. the last ear was finished and we go to the kitchen to finish up this "simple" canning of the corn. We boil it for a short period then pour it into canning jars and seal them.
When Mom cooked her canned corn she would add butter-salt-pepper and cook it in a skillet, sort of frying it...Good doesn't describe it but what can I say except that she could make ANYTHING taste great... Just give the woman some flour, shortening, milk and eggs and she could create heaven.
We enjoyed visiting while we worked and she taught me how to do yet another homemaking skill---she thought my husband should have a wife that could put vegetables away in this manner...Yep, that is a biggie for you soon to brides!!
I don't recall how long it took us eat all of that corn--which was very good and made me feel like quiet the little wife! Guess that I am glad to know how Mom processed her corn but to be perfectly honest, I have never done it again..I just shuck the corn -blanch it--bag it and throw those little suckers in the freezer..

Plum Jelly

You know for sure that you need a little excitement in your life when your son tells you that he "spotted" some wild plums beside one of our local roads and you feel the thrill of hitting a jackpot! Yep, we REALLY do love wild plum jelly but most years we are not fortunate enough to have the yield of plums.
There are several factors that are to be considered and to rationalize if the jelly would be worth the bother. First of all the price of sugar, canning jars etc, will more than likely amount to twice the price of ready made jelly-- with the temperature hitting the 100 degree mark, even with air conditioning--standing over the boiling jelly and stirring it until it is the right consistency will not be the most fun of the day.
Oh, did I mention that to get to the plum thickets you have to cross through grass and weeds about chest high.. I just know without a doubt that there are chiggers as big as ladybugs and snakes that are just waiting for some fool to try and take the plums that they are coiled up beneath. It is enough to make a sane person decide that the Walmart jelly is a good deal and so what if it is tasteless--just eat it fast and you will never notice.
Like I said a sane person would make the obvious right decision--BUT what the heck, I need the the excitement and suspense of the unknown awaiting in the weeds for who ever dares to go, I love the sweet tantalizing smell that cooking jelly spreads throughout the house---better than any candle you could buy. I even enjoy hearing the lids pop as the hot jelly is cooling in the jars--the pop is letting you know that the jar is sealed.. Many of you know by now I must enjoy making jelly because nothing compares to homemade and doing it in the "old way" just makes it better. Oh, did I mention that our precious grandson JUST LOVES it?? Yep, you know the real reason now why Pappa will wade through the weeds and fight with the snakes to get the plums and his Meme will standing stirring the hot liquid with sweat rolling down my sides to get this red wonderful jelly ready to pour into the jars.. In a few months on a blustry cold morning I will make Pappa and the precious young boy some hot biscuits and they can enjoy this delicious sweet/tart jelly..Gotta remember that nothing this good is ever easy!!!

Legs Hurting?? Here is your Cure

Months ago I shared with you some of the "good old days" prescribed treatment of various ailments, I have a couple more that I MUST share with you. Now, don't start rolling your eyes and groaning "Oh- please no more"!! You have to remember that people did not have the luxury of running to the Dr. if they had the sniffles etc. etc. as we do today. What they did have was the various treatments that had been passed down for generations--probably some worked but who knows?? I think that it is interesting to know what they practiced in curing various things though--
My sister and I were talking about our legs hurting at night and that we thought of Mom as she suffered the same thing. Someone told Mom many years ago that if she filled a cast iron skillet with "something" and put it underneath her bed -( neither of us remember what the something was)--that her legs wouldn't hurt. We were very curious about that "something" that you put beneath your bed, so a call was placed to our cousin that is well acquainted with the old ways. She was no help in solving our mystery, but offered a solution for charlie horse leg cramps that she vows will work.
Are you paying REAL close attention--here goes---you put a bar of soap in the bed with you and if by chance you get a charlie horse cramp, you rub the bar of soap on your leg and it will cure the charlie horse.
A friend was visiting the cousin and said that she had always been told for leg pain of any kind that you put your shoes underneath the bed --and be sure that you get this part right--you turn them up side down!
As strange as some these seem I do know a couple of of the old treatments that Mom did use on all of us and by gosh, they worked! If we had a sore throat we drank sour pickle juice--VIOLA--no more sore throat.. For a cough we "enjoyed" a shot of whiskey with honey--I don't remember if I still coughed but I sure did like the cough syrup!
Heck, why be out a lot of money going to these high priced Doctors today when you can just throw a bar of soap in your bed, turn your shoes upside down and slide them under the bed -- takes a shot of whiskey and honey, oh what the heck- better takes a couple of shots to be safe and if it doesn't cure us at least we will smell clean, have our shoes real handy and be feeling pretty happy to boot!!

Mom and Dads Anniversary

I have shared with you some of stories about Mom and Dad that I enjoy thinking about---as you know it is not possible to relate to someone else EVERYTHING about a person.. Those of you that knew them will understand very well that it is impossible to describe their personality or at least I can not do it.
Today July 21 is their wedding anniversary --They shared many years of love, laughter,high times and low times--through it all they remained devoted to each other. Rest assured that raising six children really put them to the test many times, but they managed just fine..At least I think that we all "turned out" pretty good!
I only wanted to post a short note honoring their many years of marriage--how blessed we were the day they were united in marriage and began their "walk" together.
The memories of spending the cold winter nights around the wood stove and sharing our thoughts with one another, listening to them sing together, Dad playing his harmonica, Mom with all of her pranks, the delicious meals she prepared for all of us and always there to cheer anyone up..dealing with 6 children there were many times one would expect her to throw a "hissy fit" over some of the things we did but she always found laughter quicker then she did anger.
Yep, saying that we were blessed to have been their "off springs"
Is putting it mild!!!

Old Friend

I suppose that I REALLY am getting old--I get something on my mind and cannot put it away. For some unknown reason I got to thinking about a girl that was my best friend in the 4Th,5Th, and 6Th grades--haven't seen her since we moved away in my 6Th grade year. We were very close and it is surprising that we did not stay in contact....guess that LIFE just happened and we didn't travel the same path.
She married at a young age and they moved to California---heck, I married at a young age and we moved to College Station--WHOOP IE!
I found her brothers name in a forward e-mail and contacted him and got her address and phone number. I called her tonight and we talked as though we had been visiting through all of these years. She moved back to Texas after her husband passed away. We enjoyed our walk down memory lane and laughed like we were school girls again--even discussed Elvis Presley...she was a Hugh fan. I liked his music but sure did not paper my bedroom walls with his posters like she did.
Guess it goes to show you that friends do make a mark in your life and in your heart, regardless of age ...

Dog Days Of Summer

The "dog days of summer" are here and electricity companies are grinning from ear to ear! As much as I love to think on the good ole days and the lifestyle everyone had, I am VERY thankful for the air conditioning---I just don't believe that we are as tough as our ancestors were. On second thought they may not have been tough by choice, it was just the way it was--no one had ever heard of air conditioning.
The older homes were built with a open space in the center of the house, hence dividing the rooms into 2 different units. This area was called the "dog run" and I am certain the dogs did take advantage of the shaded cool space--the breeze could blow completely through the "run". It was the favorite place during the hot days for the family as well. You normally found a bed of some sort in this space because they would sleep out there at night. Don't you know that they had trouble making their dogs (probably hounds) get off of the bed so they themselves could go to bed. Now I don't know about you but that doesn't appeal to me AT ALL---first of all You know the mosquitoes would eat you alive..the dogs most certainly had fleas--makes me want to scratch just thinking about it.. bless their hearts, working like all get out during the day and having to contend with the bugs at night.
Makes me wonder what they would think of our air conditioned homes of today--- after feeling the cold air they may decide that it was hog "killin' time..
You often hear summer referred to as the lazy days of summer--they may be for some of us but there was not anything lazy about their summer days. They worked from before sun-up until sun down & after. As tired as they must have been I guess a few bugs eating and crawling on you wouldn't matter..
Goodnight and sleep tight and don.t let the bedbugs bite you!!!!!

Putting Foods By

Well, its that time of the year that that our beloved mothers, grandmothers and the other women of the "good old days" were busy little beavers...Gathering the squash-beans- tomatoes, black-eyed peas etc. from their garden and most likely using the skirt of their apron to carry some of it to the awaiting bucket or basket. I don't think that it was a dreaded chore for them--it was just simply what they did in the summer--preparing and preserving food for their families to eat during the long cold winter when vegetables would be scarce unless they had thought ahead and canned the wonderful tasting vegetables and fruit.
The shelling of the peas, snapping the green beans, peeling the peaches etc. etc. was most often done outdoors underneath the shade of a tree and hopefully a gentle breeze to cool the sweat of their brow. Visiting was abundant while their hands were busy snapping, shelling and peeling. If you had a storm cellar more than likely you stored the jars of can goods on shelves in the cellar. The earthen cellars were the most common and I am here to tell you that most of the time when entering one--well lets just say that all of your senses were on high alert--pretty spooky and I have never found many things that I considered spooky. Rattlesnakes were very fond of the cellars and considered you a trespasser if you walked down those dirt steps. Having little showers of the loose dirt to fall on your head wasn't a hoot either. Being the strong and brave women that they were it was a simple matter to them to go below into the dark cellar and carry out the empty jars that had been saved from the previous year. The washing and scalding the jars was next. The "goodies" from the garden and orchard were prepared and put into the jars--now the BIG ole pressure cooker got into the act --goodness I remember the hissing sound they made and all of the vibrating--sounded like it was going to" blow" at any minute. Mom always made the children stay out of the kitchen when the cooker was on the stove. If anyone needed anything from the kitchen she always sent me into the danger zone for whatever it was. Guess I was the brave one OR maybe the stupid one---??
I have been so hungry for black-eyed peas--maybe its just that time of year that makes me think along those lines..you know what I am talking about--black-eyed peas, fried squash, hot buttered corn bread, fresh tomatoes , fresh onions and top it all off with a fresh peach cobbler or fried pie.
I will close this little chit chat while you digest your food and I will go churn my butter for the next meal---

4th ofJuly

Well, here it is time to celebrate the 4th of July once again--gosh, seems like we just did that not long ago! Time sure flies by --the older you get the faster it flies!!
Today Stamford Tx. had their rodeo parade downtown and as always I think of the many years that we were always there. It was a hugh parade in those days but I know without a doubt it no longer compares to the old days----seems nothing does!
We would arrive early in the day and park behind the main street stores where all of the horse trailers were to be located. The horses would be un-loaded from the trailers and tied underneath some trees in the area. There would be visiting amoung the men and women, well in short it was a reunion. Perhaps that is why the big rodeo 3 day event is called "The Texas Cowboy Reunion."
Around lunch time the women would began bringing out the food that they had brought with them. Everything from roast beef- fried chicken to sandwiches of all sorts. Most families were large so I am sure that is the reason the food was prepared at home..You just did not "eat out" much. After we had lunch we were allowed to go to the main street square and select a spot from which to view the parade. Mom would take one of her worn quilts and spread it on the curb for us to sit on. The parade would last for a hour or longer--as I said the parade was always a good one.. Afterwards everyone headed to the rodeo grounds --we ran around and played while the adults visited. Later in the day everyone went to the chuck grounds on top of the hill near the arena to eat "supper"--the ranches in the surrounding counties would all have their chuckwagons there and bar-b-que cooking along with beans, potatoes of some sort, corn, sourdough bread and big cast iron pots of cobbler--You selected which of the ranch chuckwagons you wanted, bought the tickets and "chowed down."
Afterwards you headed to the arena to get in your seat before the rodeo kicked off. Daddy, Mickey and Mike would head down to the arena. In later years the two of them were participating in the bucking stock events. Daddy roped for many years there and Jerry would be in the barrel racing competion.
Yes, there are memories galore of our days spent at Stamford every 4th of July--I often think that I would like to go one more time but I doubt that I do, I don't want to be disappointed by the way things have changed .. I want to keep my memories of the fun filled 4th of July spent there as they were in the good ole days...

Mom and Dad's anniversary Party

When Mom made up her mind about something-well, that was exactly what it was--made up and you best not even THINK that you could change it. If you did not agree with her --it became her mission in life ,so to speak to convince you otherwise. She was very successful I can guarantee you!
One year she got to thinking about it being their 45th wedding anniversary and she wanted to have a party--a nice party-invite everyone--kinfolks,church friends,old friends etc. etc.So she mentions it to Bev and Cinda one day and Bev told her that she thought that you did all of that on the 40th- not the 45th--and Cinda tells her that we could throw a big 50th party for them--(Bev said she really thought that was a good idea as it would take us that long to address all of the invitations)--I thought that was priceless and we laughed & laughed as sisters will do when sharing our stories about things.
Mom was not to be swayed though, she tells us that she was afraid with her health being as it was that she would not live until the 5oth--WELL NOW, that put a whole different light on the subject!!! What kind of daughters would we be and how could we live with ourselves if that were to be true. SO we got busy planning a party but since Mom had already made out her list -addresses and all,even told us where the invitations could be purchased that she liked--she had purchased the material for her a new dress and picked out the week-end she wanted to have this shindig--heck, we were well on our way-- there wasn't a lot for us to do..Hardily!! We threw it into high gear though and divided up the responsibilities between us - our one intent was to make the party as pretty and nice as we possibly could in honor of the many years our sweet Mom and Dad had shared.
We shared many a smile listening to Mom say some of the things that she did as the big day approached--she was so cute about it- like a bride. You have got to remember that she didn't have a wedding as such- just got married at the justice of peace home. My mother-in-law loaned us her beautiful Irish lace cloth for the table and we used all of my silver to serve with--the other daughters took care of mailing everything, napkins and getting the flower arrangements and Mom's corsage. I had taken some cake decorating classes and decided that I wanted to do their cake instead of ordering one and that was exactly what I did- a 5 layers stacked cake with the column dividers and the precious cowboy and bride on top, trimmed with roses and scalloped border...a designer cake it was not but made with love it was..
The big day arrived and people were arriving from one end of the State to the other and Mom was having the time of her life--daddy on the other hand looked like he was at a funeral--said that he da@@ sure hoped that was the last of the anniversary parties! Just wasn't his thing but I think that he enjoyed it more than he let on.
My sisters and I shared alot of FAST work and many phone calls to put the celebration together in the short time that we had--but we pulled it all together and it was very pretty --especially the aging bride!! The aging groom wasn't too shabby either! We were very happy that we had shared in this blessing as Mom and Dad never had their 5oth--Daddy passed away after having shared 48 years of marriage with Mom.

Daddy

Today being Fathers Day, I have thought of Daddy many times and as always give thanks that I was blessed with such a loving man for a Dad. As I shared with you in a past post, daddy never knew his Mom as he was a baby when she died and his Dad died when he was 12 or 13yrs old so he really missed out on being brought up with a family environment. Grandpa Sherley was a wonderful Christian Dad to him and I am certain that the short time that Daddy had with him instilled in him many of the attributes that Daddy had-- family was so important to him and everyone of us KNEW that he loved us very much and was proud of each of us.
Dad always had many friends and as Mickey and Mike grew older their friends accepted Daddy as their friend as well. One of these friends began to call Daddy "Coon" and it stuck!! That is about the only name many of the friends would call him.
If ever a cowboy was born to this earth --he was the one. I am so thankful that he fathered two sons that followed in his footsteps with their love and skills in riding--Dad enjoyed watching them and sharing in the fun of rodeos.
I was so touched by the many friends that came to see Dad while he was in the hospital just shortly before his death--a lot of them were his longtime friends and many were the younger friends of his sons. They all had one thing in common -- they loved the man that they were visiting.
I think that Dads funeral service spoke volumes about the kind of man and friend that he was ---the church was so full that people were standing and many had to stand outside. Yep, I am a little prejudice but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that when it came to Dads--we had the BEST!!

House shoes

I had to buy me a new pair of house slippers the other day and for some strange reason it got me to remembering my first pair of house shoes--they were made from pretty pink wash clothes...yep, you heard right wash clothes,except we called them wash rags.
Two elderly ladies lived next door to my Aunt Dodie and I LOVED to go visit them whenever we would go to Aunt Dodies house. It didn't matter that I was 5 or 6 years old and they were in their sixty and seventies--heck, I could talk to ALL ages. One of my visits I admired the cute house shoes that Mrs. Carr had on and she informed me that she had sewed them from wash rags.. It didn't take much to amaze me back in those days and I WAS amazed--I had to have a pair. She tells me she would get the 2 wash rags and my next visit we would make a pair
Time does creep by when you are so anxious for something, I thought that we would NEVER go to visit Aunt Dodie--I was "bitin at the bit" to get my pretty house shoes. Well, FINALLY we go to visit and I was out of the car and rushing over to the Carrs house faster than you could say "squat." True to her word she had bought me the 2 wash rags in pink. I recall telling her from the start that I liked red but I was confident that being old she couldn't tell pink from red. She pulled a stool up for me to watch her and to help her make them--she made one of them and had me to do the other--talk about excited- now this little gal was on cloud nine.
That next week I got into Mothers wash rags and my mission was to see that everyone in my family had some wash rag house shoes--I did a decent job of making them too!! Guess it was a good thing that my stitches were rather long because I used most of the wash rags and if anyone needed a wash rag they had pull the stitches out of their house shoes and use my wonderful creation to bath with.
Just a note on the expression of wash rags instead of wash cloth--in the old days they did not have wash clothes as we know them but would use a rag hence the expression wash rag. The same goes for dish rag, which I heard all of my life
Now doesn't it make your day to know this "stuff?' Heck, if you hang around me I 'll teach you all sorts of things about the "finer" side of life----

Quilt Show

The local "yokels" are having their annual quilt show this week-end, being the quilt lover that I am - we arrived about 30 minutes after they had opened the doors. There were quilts of all themes and some of the most beautiful fabrics were used in the quilts. I guess that hand quilting is a thing of the past as I did not see ONE quilt that was hand quilted. I know that many women just don't like to spend the many. many hours that is required in hand quilting--not to mention they could piece several quilts in the time that it takes to "quilt out" just one. The machine quilting arm is really all they are using. The machine is pretty expensive so most just pay someone to quilt out their quilt for them.
As I admired the many works of art that the women had invested their time into sewing, I couldn't help but to compare the quilts of today with the quilts of old days. Most all of the old quilts were actually old from the start because the fabric that was used had been a piece of clothing that was too worn to be used any longer or maybe it was torn--ANYWAY, the women would cut the salvageable fabric into the blocks or whatever pattern she was making her quilt block .. As I have stated in the past post, the old feed sacks & flour sacks etc. were a very big hit with the women because of the pretty bright colors and now they could actually make a NEW quilt--my oh my how times have changed---In the old days the quilts were made out of necessity for warmth on the cold winter nights and they would also lay them on the floors to make a "pallet" for someone--usually a child--to sleep on. Now the quilts may have several hundred dollars invested into the making of the quilt and when completed many use them as a bed cover but most seem to just use them for decoration---which is great from my point of view anyway that they want to use them is fine...I am just grateful that the appreciation of quilts and their history is still appreciated.

Home Burned

I have told you stories about all of the fun and closeness that we were blessed with but there were also times that we experienced tragedies. The one that I am speaking of now is when our home burned to the ground when we lived at Stamford. All of us were fairly young--(that was where I started first grade in school.)
I think that the street that we lived on was Orient St.--don't know why I would know that but I do. Daddy worked the night shift in the oil field, so it was Mom and her 6 kiddo's at home. In the wee morning hours Mom heard a loud noise like something breaking coming from the kitchen. The door was closed going into the kitchen but she knew the sound came from there and immediately realized she smelled smoke. She jumped up and began hollering for us to wake up and get outside. we did not tarry, by the sound of her voice we knew this was serious stuff and ran outside only to be gripped by fear as we could see flames shooting up in the night sky. One of our neighbors had already called the fire dept. and they arrived soon after we were outside. The firemen began to spray the fire, one of them rushed inside to check that everyone was out (guess he didn't see Mom standing by us.)We were all crying- guess being frightened etc. I was crying for my doll that I had left behind in my bed. It was about 2 foot tall and I really loved her and slept with her. The fireman came rushing back out carrying a quilt with the doll inside of it, He felt it on the bed and just reacted I suppose but I was so thrilled that I had her back--smoke stained and all!
That was all that was saved from the burning house that was our home. To this day I recall the horrible scene of watching it burn, than crumble to the ground. It certainly left me with a fear of fires.
The fire Marshall determined later that he felt the fire had been "started" underneath the kitchen. They never could prove who did it but Daddy always thought that it was probably two men that he had fired from the job a few days before. Both men left town and were never seen again so Daddy was probably right..
The beauty of a small town is that they all work together, the people helped clean the property and haul away the burned remains..
Mom always took things as they came and she kept her spirits high which made all of us feel much better and we didn't suffer any ill effects from the experience.
Before long we had a home again and it was just another memory --not one that we cared for but still a memory.. Life is composed with the good times and not so good times --- this incident was sure one of the not so good times!
Through the years I have often wondered if the men that struck the match to our home ever considered that there was a woman and children inside---guess that we will never know....

Just remembering...

Why on earth some things just seem to take root in your mind/memory is a mystery to me--you know its things that are not earth shaking or even worthy to remember. Guess for me they were meaningful because they stuck with me. Like the time that we lived in Old Glory, Cinda was very young, and one day after lunch Mom made us all lay down to rest for awhile--Well it so happens that a certain religious group had been "working" our little community--when two of them stepped upon our porch we could see them from the bed we were on. Mom whispers to us to be real quiet and they would think we weren't home. Sounded good to us, so we were quiet as a church mouse , well they just kept on knocking and knocking and all of a sudden little Cindas sweet voice yells out" Go away their not home." Mom didn't seem to mind all of the giggling that we couldn't hold back.
It was while we were living there that the new young minister of our church would come by to visit. Mom really thought he was a great minister--I was young enough that I don't remember if he was good at his job or not, but I do remember him and how much he seem to love people. He had never met Daddy and wanted to "bring him into the fold" I suppose. One day he came to visit just as Daddy was about to leave to go unload a truck load of hay at a nearby ranch. It was a very hot day and not a breath of breeze (Mom recalled that little detail) Jerome told Dad that he would like to visit with him and Dad tells him that he had to unload the hay before it got dark but if he wanted to go with him that he had a extra pair of gloves about his size. I really wonder who was the most shocked Mom or Dad when Jerome stood up and says that he would be happy to go help him. Bet my bottom dollar Dad thought that his offer would run him off.
Well, he did go help Dad and we were never told all that they talked about but a friendship that lasted many years was brought about as those two unloaded and stacked a load of hay.
Like I said isn't it strange the little non eventful things that we remember?

Where's My Supper??

One time Daddy had gone out of town to a horse sale and didn't think that he would be home until late that night. Well, Mom would just "get the itch" to cook a certain something and that day it was pies--coconut and pecan pies to be exact. She cooks a couple of each kind but she still wasn't ready to quit so she prepares a meatloaf and some sort of potatoes. Naturally, vegetables had to be cooked and before she knew it she had a big table of food with no one there to eat it. You know good and well that she didn't ponder what to do about it for very long--she began dividing all of the food up -- wrapping or bagging it. I can just see her doing that and humming or singing all of the while, feeling so good that someone will be happy to be getting their dinner that night..
Well, one of the lucky recipients was the couple that lived next to Mom & Dad--they both worked and always seem to love Mom's cooking....I don't remember who she said she took the rest of the food to -- doesn't matter because that isn't the story!!
The story I loved, was that Daddy got home much earlier than he had expected and was hungry as a bear---whoops--she has given EVERYTHING she cooked away!! It didn't discourage Daddy once he heard that their neighbors had his food on their table he said he would just walk over and see if they had any leftovers. I can imagine what Mom must have told him along with wanting to cook for him but she said that he wouldn't hear of it! So over to the neighbors he goes and as he gets to the porch he stumbles on their step, swearing over the near fall--she opens the door upon hearing the commotion and See's that its daddy than asked "Mr. Sherley are you drunk?
Mom said that Daddy sounded soooo insulted when he answered in a gruff sounding voice" he@@ no I'm not drunk, I'll have you to know I am as sober as a baptist preacher in a dry county!!"
Oh, how I love that story because I can still hear Mom laughing telling it and see the silly looking grin Daddy would have...
Oh yea, Evelyn did have plenty of food left and fixed Dad a plate. He use to joke that sometimes he had to eat at the neighbors because if he wasn't right there when Mom got it all cooked she would give it away.

Tribute to Mom for Mothers day

I know that I have written a lot about Mom and her cooking but to be perfectly honest , you can't think of her for long that her cooking doesn't enter into the picture. She was great at a lot of various things--had a beautiful singing voice--as Daddy use to say she could hit those high notes and rattle the rafters--just beautiful..Many women have said that she was the best Bible teacher they ever had, we know that she was a GREAT story teller and loved to pull jokes on people. In general the precious lady just loved life and seem to spread that joy and laughter to those all about her. Her hands were always open to share whatever she had with others and the same dear hands worked many hours for her family as well as others.
What I was thinking about was in her later years when she was in a wheelchair how she would go into the kitchen rolling up close to her cabinets and then would pull herself to stand and leaning one arm on the cabinet she would make and roll out pie crust, stir up a cake just whatever she wanted to cook. Her disability did not hinder her from doing what she loved--cooking and sharing with others. She would prepare meals- meatloaf- roast, vegetables and most of the time hot rolls or corn bread--whatever she thought sounded good she managed to cook. She would than prepare several plates of the food and wrap it in foil, load it in her little basket on the wheelchair and off she would go to the little elderly neighbors to deliver them some lunch.
Of course they LOVED it and loved her and I am certain her visit made their days brighter---without a doubt Moms day was brighter because she got to feed those poor little souls. It seems that one of her greatest talents and gifts was to minister to people not only through her Bible teachings but in her everyday life--serving others by her abundant acts of kindness and labor of love in cooking.
I know that the entire family thinks of her often or everyday as I do and each Mothers day I reflect back on the mother days I got to spend with her-- each and everyone is a precious memory. God blessed us with the very best Mom and hopefully each of us will be inspired to carry on her traditions with the same loving heart and open hands!!

Moms doughnuts--yum yum!

Today being such a cool day a memory came to mind of the COLD days of winter and the long walk that we had to make from where the school bus let us out to our home.
I say long walk and it certainly seemed it to us but I doubt that it was all that far---doesn't matter anyway because when the cold north wind is hitting you in the face and biting into your skin a half of a mile may as well be 2 miles. We would keep our heads down to try and shelter our face from the sting of the cold wind but you had to look up every now and then to stay on the road. It would have been great if there had been face mask like they have today.... but we were tough little critters!
What I was remembering was the many, many times that we would get to the house feeling frozen to the bone and upon opening the front door to be greeted with the sweet aroma of hot doughnuts with a cooked syrup glaze that smelled more like a candy store than glaze..Mom would come to the living room and help us out of our coats and most of the time hugging us or gave us a pat on the back. Amazing how such a small thing can warm you up so fast--guess feeling loved and cared for does that, huh?
She would put the platter of hot doughnuts on the table and had hot chocolate if we wanted that. It was good to be home..
I have carried on her tradition- on those cold blustery days of winter, if I know my grandson is coming over there will be hot doughnuts on his Memes table.

Daddy and the carnival

Every fall our school would have its annual festival--it was referred to as Halloween carnival in those days. Really a big deal for our little community and school. Each class elected their duke and duchess to be presented at the beginning of the festival that night, after that --the party was on! Goodness sakes, there was booths of all sorts- throwing darts, basketball free-throws,throwing balls to knock dolls over,bingo,etc.etc. the most popular place in the gym was always the cake walk- You know by now that the women in the community took great pride in the food that they prepared..Each Mom was asked to donate a cake for the walk, now you don't need to be a rocket scientist to KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that only the best recipe in their cake file would make its way to the festival. Heck, most of them didn't even use recipes--like Mom it was a matter of just start pouring and dipping flour by the handfuls and adding a little of this and a little of that until she was pleased with the way "it looked" --into the oven it would go and bake until it smelled like it was done! There would be the most beautiful cakes on display, it was easy to see why the lines was always long with mouth watering people awaiting their turn to do the cake walk--each one hoping they would be the one standing on the lucky number when the walk ended.
There was always "apple dun kin" or some called it "bobbin for apples".This was THE PLACE for the children--man we did love it.A big trough would be full of water and apples would be floating in it. The rules were that you kept your hands behind your back and would lean down and try to pick up the apple with your mouth. Now our school was mixture of white , black and brown and here we were all opened mouth trying to catch apples as they floated around--you get my drift don't you?? Well, Daddy sure did --remember how he checked out the kitchens if possible to make sure they were clean--well not really but he was picky about clean cooking etc.
Before we returned to the carnival the next year, Daddy ask us if we plan to bob for apples----CERTAINLY- we are, he said "Well, I hope you know that every kid up there is "slobbering" in that water with their mouths gaped open and lick in' on those apples." It is SO true how well parents know their children.....not a one of us ever bobbed for apples again--in fact it sort of turned my stomach to watch it after that. The cake walk was THE PLACE to go in the years that followed--well- until he mentioned that we better watch out for ---ahhh, well you don't want to know about that!!!

Proper Raising

I guess that all of this talking about spring cleaning and Mom sewing new clothes for us--{funny that I just don't recall her sewing a lot for herself--I'm sure she did but seems she was always sewing for some of her children}ANYWAY I got to thinking about the way the ladies dressed--man oh man did we forever dress. Seems it took longer to put on all of the "underlings" than our dress etc. I don't know that they even make girdles anymore--I know they must but I haven't seen one since I burned mine!! No self respecting lady would leave the house without her girdle on ---or so our Mothers told us. Makes me think of a quote from one of my favorite movies (Steel Magnolias}
Dolly Parton and another lady were watching a woman dance and remarked that it appeared that she had 2 puppies underneath the back of her dress,to which Dolly replied that her thighs had not been without Lycra since she was a teenager. The other lady tells her " Honey' your momma raised you right."
It just tickles me pink to inform everyone that we were darn sure raised right, regardless of how uncomfortable we were--Oh, and the wonderful nylon hose with the seam in the back, that you HAD to have on straight with your seams perfect! Makes you wonder who on earth thought up this stuff to torture poor ladies and their teen daughters. Mom and my sisters didn't have the trouble getting straight seams--me, well that's another story--best I can think of is that the back of my hose resembled the snake river!!

Sewing and Washing

In the posting yesterday I mentioned that the women cooked the starch that they used on their doilies but mostly it was used for their clothing. I can still remember what the starch smelled like--I thought it smelled clean and fresh--no pine tree scent AT ALL!
After Moms spring cleaning was finished, she turned her attention to our clothing. As I have already told you the lady was a master with the sewing machine and she ABSOLUTELY loved to sew. She could take one of Jerry or Bevs dresses and remake it for me and by the time she was finished with it --you could not recognize it as one of their cast offs. She made all of Mick and Mikes shirts and all of the western clothing that Jerry wore in the barrel racing competition at the rodeos.. By the time she finished up her creations-washed- starched and ironed, brother you were dressed fine enough to meet the President--well, maybe we would just as soon meet the rodeo clown
Do you remember the metal pant stretchers that you would slide into the pant legs and hang on the clothesline to dry? You put the metal pant leg shaped frame into the leg with the front and back being the stretching point.. Naturally the levies were starched --by the time they had dried and you pulled the stretchers out -- you had a pair of levies that stood upright all by themselves--yep could have walked right off if only they had feet!!!
I used stretchers for many years after Freddie and I were married--didn't go so heavy on the starch though -- Mom would have so many pairs of jeans hanging on the line -Daddy's,Mick and Mike along with a few of the girls--then you would see these very full can-can petticoats spread in a circle on top of a sheet to dry ---looked like a band of gypsies setting up camp!
Guess that our washer, dryers, spray starch and steam irons do a pretty good job for us today but the good clean smell of the cooked starch is long gone.

Spring Cleaning

The warm days of Spring brings to mind the way that Mom (and many other women) would "open up the house" to air it out after being closed up over the winter months. One thing that I recall is that you did smell the lingering smoke smell of the wood stove that had kept us so toasty during those cold winter months.
She would raise the windows as high as they would go, assign each one of us a job to do,and brother we did "get after it!" The floors were swept. the walls and ceilings were swept--light fixtures were washed, curtains washed and of course all of the quilts and spreads were on the clothes line getting their share of fresh air and sunshine. Mom didn't actually mop the floors , she would use her mop bucket pouring all sorts of cleaning "goop" in the water and use her broom to scrub the floor, but the one thing that I remember most is that foul smelling pine sol!! Flat out stunk!!!
She would scrub all of the floors then go back over them with the rinse water--the wood and linoleum did shine!
In those days if you starched anything- you had to cook it, well she would cook a BIG batch of starch and believe me we starched every curtain, doily and even the pillow cases. All of this was done in one day -- by the time Daddy got home he walked into a sparkling house that reeked of a pine forest, but hey Mom must have thought that it smelled clean. She still used it in her mop water until the end.
Well sir, it is spring and I am "fixin" to start my spring cleaning opening up the house and airing out my quilts etc. but the one thing that I won't be doing is "scrubbin" the floors--think that mopping will do me just fine --really doubt that I will go over it with rinse water and I guarantee you there will be NO pine trees added to my water!!

Pulling Teeth

Daddy was a man of many talents. He was a natural with training horses, he could show and sell a horse to a deaf and blind man--very convincing- but hey, that was his trade and he had to be good at it. When he hauled hay many ranches depended on him to supply their hay because he always bought the clean and tight bales of hay. He had more friends than you could shake a stick at and I only wish I had their stories and experiences they shared with Daddy.
The man did what had to be done, as many people did back then ( sure makes me feel old everytime I say back then). When there was a need, you just took care of it the best way that you could. Raising six children Dad really had his share of assorted task-- one being pulling our teeth---yep, thats what I said pulling our teeth. Don't think for one minute that we didn't do our best to keep them but you know how baby teeth are, you either pull them or they "wiggle their way out." Dad would tie a string around the tooth and get a good grip-jerk it upward and -viola-the tooth was out and you were left bleeding a little, thinking that you were sure to die.
WEll, Cinda was very little and had a front baby tooth almost ready to "drop out" but she would not let Daddy pull it---being as she was the baby and so adorable we pretty much let her have her way. The tooth stayed--UNTIL one day while she and I were home alone I talked her into letting me pull the silly wiggley waggle tooth. She consented --I got the string and was talking to her all the while to keep her distracted--got it tied and jerked, out came the tooth. I felt 6 ft. tall until she asked me where that tooth came from, I told her that it was hers --tears began to flow with some yawling mixed in with it--she points to the front of her mouth and sure as all get out I had tied the string to the wrong tooth!
Daddy had a few things to say to me when he got home . I never had a secret desire to become a dentist anyway so I wasn't very upset about it.

Mom & J

When I mentioned that J Loyd was Mom & Dads first grandchild in my last post, a memory popped into my mind so I best get it written down before it leaves me. OH' to be young again and have full and total recall!!!
Bev and Cecil lived in a duplex in Rochester after their marriage and was still living there when she gave birth to J. The first grandchild and EVERYONE was so thrilled, especially Mom and Dad. You would think that after raising six children that a baby wouldn't have tripped their trigger as it did but they were over the moon about that sweet grand baby.
Cecil worked in the oil fields and his late shift made him getting home late so as long as the baby slept Bev would sleep late as well.
Dad and Mom were in town early one morning and before returning home they decided that they would go by Bevs and see if they could take the baby with them. You remember that in those days it was so different than today--we never locked our doors. You slept with the door opened and the screen door would be unlatched. Sounds scary now, huh?
Well, Mom opened the door and walked in to find all three of her loved ones sound asleep--just like the 3 bears. She didn't let it stop her - she goes over and lifts J out of the bed, wraps him up, gets his bottle and off they go--Daddy asked if she left a note and she said "yes" only later did we learn that all she wrote was " I got him" didn't sign it at all. I guess that her explanation made sense though - she stated that Bev knew her handwriting. As it turned out Bev did know that Mom was the one that wrote the note. People didn't have to worry so much in those days about the safety of their children as we do today. Mom handled her grandchildren as her own-- filling their bottle with sweet tea on occasion' putting Vicks vapor rub on the bottom of their feet if they had a stuffy nose etc. etc. A great big heaping of love showered on them all of the time.

Moms Make-Over

Mickey and Cheryl made Mom and Dad VERY happy when they blessed them with their first granddaughters--Kelley first and in a few years Kerrie. They were so in love with these little gals and the girls returned that love to them. When I was thinking about posting this another memory came to my mind,so I will tell it first---or I may forget it!! Yep, the ole mind is slowly slipping away, dear ones..
What came to mind was Daddy laughing one time and telling how the girls had Mickey wrapped around their finger--he added that he didn't think that Mickey had ever spank either one of them. Dad was at their house one day and one of the girls did something and Mick told them not to be doing that again---OF COURSE they did it again. Mickey tells them "I told you not to do that' when Cheryl gets home I'm telling her to give you a spanking"...Tickled Daddy to pass on the story. I never asked Cheryl
if she gave the delayed spanking or not---how 'bout it Cheryl?????
Now, for the story.....Mom wasn't only a great Mom but was the best grandmother a child could hope for. She was "Ma"to all of her grandchildren. Bev and Cecil gave them their first grandchild--J Loyd and he called them Pa and Ma so that was their name from then on.
Mom would let Kelley and Karrie play with her make-up and they would put the powder, lipstick, rouge and LOTS of necklaces on her. The hair styles they gave her were really something--mostly standing straight up. Well, one day Ma had Kerrie with her while Kelley was at school --after lunch Mom always lay down to rest--Kerrie went to work on her, powder started flying and Moms face was being transformed. She had her face painted up and I am sure the hairstyle was to die for--Mom glanced at the clock and jumps up telling Kerrie it was time to pick Kelley up from school. No time to fix her hair or wash her face- she just takes off. You gotta remember what a friendly lady she was, she waved and talked to anyone that was near her. She said one time "Why it never bothered me at all for people to see the good job that Kerrie did "fixin me up." If either of those gals did it, it was perfect in Mom's sight and as Paul Harvey would say "the rest of the story" is that never changed--they pampered Ma and visited her often...Mom loved and adored them....

Daddy

When I think of what Daddy looked like I always envision him in levis and a white western shirt. For years and years that was his preference, he felt dressed up as long as he had on his white shirt--He was a handsome man even as he aged, if you recall. I think that it was Mike that bought him a pretty colored shirt and told him that his feelings would be hurt if he didn't wear it. Well, the days of the white shirts were a thing of the past,Daddy decided that he liked the colored shirts
He would dress to go somewhere and enjoyed smelling good so brother, he would spray the cologne or after shave on--you know it was of the mind set " if a little was good than a WHOLE lot was better." One thing for certain the man never smelled anything but good!
He loved all of his children but I can assure you that his two sons- Mickey and Mike was such a blessing to him. They rode the horses that Dad would buy to re-sale and helped him from the time that they were very little. I remember the story of him showing a man one of his horses that had been a little wild and telling the man that he would let his little boys ride it--the man told him "yea, I bet you would too- they can ride broncs better than most men. He did end up buying the horse. Can't you just hear daddy telling him how gentle the horse was and adding "if I'm lying- I'm dying."
I laugh every time I think of how picky he was when it came to cleanliness--ESPECIALLY concerning his food. One of my Aunts had cats and when Mom & dad would go visit them he would never eat or drink anything--Nada - nothing..When asked about why he didn't he said that he saw some of the cats on the cabinets licking out of one of the dishes--that did it for him!! Well, to be honest it would have been all of it for me too.

Mom And Her Fun Lovin' Ways

Mom's fun loving ways was such a big part of her life. She would go to so much trouble to "pull off" a funny incident on someone. I know that Tom still remembers how she would put a sheet over herself and slip outdoors where the grandchildren were playing after dark. She would run at them making a scary sound and scare the stuffing out of them--I know that all of the grandchildren remember her doing it.
One of my favorites is one Halloween she had obtained a pair of overalls from someone (maybe Ralph--the one she doused with water) I know that he wore them when he wasn't cowboyed up. Anyway--she dresses in the overalls, old shirt and puts straw around the neck of her shirt and somehow attached some to the base of the pants. Her face was painted and she put a hat on her head with straw stuck underneath and hanging down---now we are talking about a sure'nough scarecrow here!!
She sit in a chair right next to the front door-let her head fall to the side- she had pulled the hat low enough to cover her eyes so no one could tell that it was her...Now she awaited the trick or treaters to come visiting--when they came and would knock on her door, she would let them do it several times before she reached out and grabbed their arm while saying in a loud voice "SHE'S NOT HOME". The children would scream and she would laugh. A friend of theirs brought his son and after the little boy knocked several times, the Dad tells him to knock harder that he knows she is there he could hear the t.v. About the the time he knocked Mom jumped to her feet and yelled "she's not home" --it startled the 2 of them so bad, the little boy took off running to the car and the Dad fell off of the porch.
Oh, what fun she had and loved to tell it, remembering what the children and parents would say---everything from "is she deaf' to "I hope she made her popcorn balls for us ".
I have told my grandson, Cade this story many times and he loves it..
Oh yes, can you guess which house all of the children LOVED to trick or treat every year?? You just never knew what on earth she may have thought up----all for fun and to make someone laugh. What a woman!!!

Mom's joking around

Mom and Dad enjoyed people--talking with them, lending a helping hand or whatever the need or occasion was they enjoyed it. Mom was really a "bigger" talker than Daddy, as I am sure that you remember. She was turned alot like her Daddy--our Grandpa Thead. Daddy use to say that Mom could visit with a fence post and be real happy about it, because it couldn't talk back. The woman did have the gift of gab but unlike some she listened to what others had to say and was sincerely interested.
They were both blessed with many, many friends throughout their life.
One of Dad's friends was younger than Dad and he absolutely loved Dad- said that he was like a father to him.
Ralph enjoyed going to the horse sales with Daddy, he bought him boots, western hat--the works and felt quiet the cowboy. It was late by the time they would return home. He would always walk with dad to the horse lot and wait while Dad fed the horses etc.He would then go on home feeling pretty much like a cowboy---
Well, this particular night Mom had gone to bed and been laying there listening to a baseball game (ugh)--she heard Dad drive into the drive in front of the house.
Her bed was right next to the windows--which were RAISED. She ALWAYS carried a glass of water with her as she went to bed---yep its a family thing-most all us have done the same thing all of our life.
Now back to marshall Dillion and Faustus--they go walking by her bedroom window, leading the horse to the lot. Dad was the closer one to the window--you just got to think back at how Mom LOVED to pull pranks on all of us.. As they came walking back to the front of the house, passing by her window --real close like--she picks up her full glass of water and throws the water out of the window just about drowning poor Ralph, He yells like he just went over Niagara Falls--sopping wet- Dad asking Mom what the heck she was doing but she couldn't answer him, she was laughing so hard
Her only comment in telling us the story was that she was so sorry that Dad had switched sides because she wanted to hit him with it.. Wouldn't you like to know how Ralph explained to his wife why on earth he looked like a drowned rat.....

Sharing and Caring

In the "good ole days" someone would drive up to the house and Dad or Mom would walk out to greet them "get out and come on in" was the standard saying. The next thing was "have you had dinner-supper--etc. It didn't matter if it 3 o'clock in the afternoon or 8 o'clock that night, by gosh they wanted to feed them something! There is a lot to be said about sharing your table and food with someone--it makes them feel cared for and welcomed. Well, my parents were masters at making you feel welcomed, whatever they had you were welcomed to share in it.
Many times we children gave up our beds for the night because the company would be convinced they needed to stay the night and "get a fresh start"in the morning. The quilt pallets would be brought out for us--but I don't think any of us ever minded.
I can't remember many times that Mom would not already have something in the way of dessert already prepared but if she didn't or there wasn't enough, she would "mix-up" a batch of doughnuts real fast or some of her fried pies. Doesn't this make you want to load into the car and go visit someone like Mom?
If the company were to be relatives with children, I remember how the women would go through the clothes that we had outgrown and select the ones that would fit their children. Mom would always put the outgrown ones that still looked good in a box for this very purpose. The other women did the same thing--personally I always thought it was a lot more fun to go to their homes and get their clothes, than giving them mine! That was as good as going to stores and buying them in our eyes.
If the company didn't can their their own vegetables or make their jams-jelly-etc. I can assure you when they loaded up the next morning heading for home they not only had our clothes but Mom had supplied them with enough canned goods to last a long while. Guess one might say that the good ole days was all about hard work, not having a multitude of things but whatever you did have you had open hands and a giving heart--at least Mom and Dad did!!!

More Cooking

As I was recalling Moms cooking I forgot to mention how popular her cooking was when we had the cafe in Rochester, goodness people came from the surrounding towns and the various work crews that were in the area always wanted to have their feet under one of Moms tables come lunch time! I mentioned how she had to fry Dads steak or chops, but in the cafe she cooked them just right- tender on the inside and a nice crust on the outside. I still maintain to this day that she fried the best chicken that I have ever eaten.
One day recently I made the remark to a friend that I had "whipped up" a pie that day. She said that she had never heard of the expression "Whipping up" a pie. I told her that it came from Mother as she would often say she was going to whip up a pie or "
stir up" a cake. She could make cooking look so easy, but with 6 kids to raise she had a WHOLE LOT of practice.
Whenever there was sickness in our community or a death, Mom would be one of the first to carry them food. She frequently carried a tray of food to the elderly while it was still hot- then would return home to feed her family.
She would can or freeze the vegetables of the season and could make the most delicious apricot preserves. I know that in a prior post I mentioned her fried pies--man -oh-man talk about making your mouth water they were out of this world.
She would quilt with the ladies of the community, so would often have them in our home as they alternated hosting the event. Everyone would bring a dish and at the end of the day they would write down various foods on little pieces of paper and would draw to see what they would have to bring to the next meeting. They wouldn't let Mom draw- she was told to bring her angel food pie or pecan pies.
Well, I have rambled on long enough about all of this great food, it has made me want to "whip up" one of her cakes-----maybe the urge will pass since its midnight>

Mom's Table

When Mom & Dad moved back to West Texas, they lived west of Rochester in a little community called Jud. Dad farmed some but worked with horses too. I can remember if he was plowing anywhere near the house, when Mom had lunch ready she would walk out to where he could see her and wave a white dish towel and he would know that it was"chow" time.
Now you have to remember that back then people didn't eat as many sandwiches or quick-fix meals as we do today. For one thing it was too costly and the other thing was Mom loved to cook--and I do mean that she liked it and was a VERY good cook as many of you remember. I am sure that you also recall that when she knew you were coming to see them that she would have the foods that she knew where your favorites.
Daddy liked for everything that he may want to use with his meal to be on the table , so in the middle of the table you could find --the pepper, salt, ketchup,pepper sauce, pickles,chow-chow and most of the time some jam or jelly.Really I think that most people did that as I remember Ma Blanche kept all of her pantry in the middle of the
table or at least it seemed so. My better half would love it if I did--get rid of the cutesy flowers and put the grub on the table!
Mom could make the most ordinary meal seem like a feast from her hot rolls to the melt in your mouth cakes and pies--the woman was a master in the kitchen. Many may say that she couldn't fry meat , but Daddy liked his meat well done and by that I mean that unless it was hard to stick a fork into and would make a hollow sound when you dropped it on the platter--than you best cook that sucker a little more! Most of the children followed in his footsteps-- you know its what you were raised with is what you like. My little brother Mike, would eat raw oysters after he was grown and Daddy would shiver from the thought.
I agree with Jerry Ann, one time we were talking about steaks cooked rare and that we would not eat it, she said " I may die from lots of things, but I promise you it won't be from eating raw meat." We had a Uncle that would eat his steak so rare that the meat would be floating in the blood. Daddy always said that he wasn't "real bright" was why he ate it like that---hey, it made sense to us!!

The early years of Dad & Mom

Mom and Dad moved to Benavides to make their first home. Daddy went to work for Brown and Root. The company provided small trailer houses for the families to live in--I do mean SMALL too! I have a photo of them standing in front of it and it looks like a one room--there is a tarp spread out above it & extending out to the side- Mom said it provided much needed shade on those hot humid days. She said that they were so proud of their first home and thought it was a palace. Looking back I realize that they continued to have the gift of being content wherever they lived.
They were transferred to Freer (near Alice' Tx.) I believe it was the second year after their marriage. While living at Freer (still in their palace) Mom became pregnant with the first of the six children that she & Dad would have. She had to use the hospital in Alice--so on Feb.2'1939 Jerry Ann was born. Mom didn't waste anytime in
having their second child--On January 2'1940 Beverly Juanice was born in Alice, Tx. After a few months they returned to the Rochester area and Dad continued to work in the oil field--in his spare time he was always riding and training horses-for himself or other people. He was very good at roping and won on a regular basis. In those days they had a event that was called wild cow milking that he was REALLY good at. Hard to remember a time that Daddy could move that fast- but he did.
Back to having babies--- Mom gave birth to me- Jimmie Sue on Oct. 10,1943 in Knox City Texas. Guess that she liked the hospital in Knox so well that she went back on August 24'1946 and gave birth to their first son- Mickey J. Two years later they had another son--Michael Edward was born Sept. 3'1948.. We moved to Stamford and while living there Mom gave birth to the last child that they would have--On Feb. 23'1951 Cinda Lou entered this world--a beautiful baby I can assure you- but Daddy and Mom thought all of their babies were.
Now that we have covered their first years of marriage and the family that they felt blessed to have, we can tell some of their stories...but it has to wait until tomorrow because having all of these babies has "tuckered" me out!!!

J D and Marie Juanice Sherley

Have you ever thought about how hard it is to really describe someone so that the person would have the personality, the humor and all of the traits that made them unique?? I don't think that you can convey such information or at least I can't--but I will try my level best. These two remarkable people deserve it..
Daddy was born September 16,1914 near O'Brien Texas. His father was Hiram Edward Sherley and his mother was Susan Gertrude Sherley. She died when Daddy was a baby so he had no memory of her--what he knew was what Grandpa Sherley had told him. She is buried in the O'Brien cementry near her parents. Grandpa Sherley died of pneumonia when daddy was almost 13 years old. He is buried in the Sipe Springs cemetery by his first wife and several of their children.
Mom was born August 12,1920 in Rochester. Her parents were Thead and Blanche Corley.Grandpa and Ma Blanche are buried at Rochester.
Mom and Dad knew each other as children--I remember a story about Daddy and Grandpa going over to Grandpa Corleys, seems like it was to get a dog. Well, Daddy could see Mom playing out by the side of the house and he climbs up in a apple tree and gets to throwing green apples at her. Daddy said that she was just playing hard to get and he meant for her to notice him. Ma Blanche finally told Mom to "go speak to J D or she wouldn't have a apple left on her tree."
The years passed and they remained "smitten" with one another. On July 21st 1936 they were married in Haskell Texas.One time they drove me by the house where the Justice of Peace had lived and Mom said " Right there is where me and your Daddy got married"--Daddy pipes up and says "yes, that was the happiest day of your Momma's life!
That marriage that took place in 1936 is our beginning, dear ones.. I guess you could say "it was the happiest day of all of our lives, huh?"