Stories About the Old Days & Old Ways

Old Paper Fans

2010-08-10T20:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-04T20:50:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-08-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-31T21:26:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-30T20:51:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-19T21:36:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-08T22:52:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-01T21:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-29T22:31:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-11T21:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-05-18T21:46:00.000-07:00

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??

2010-05-17T22:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-05-13T21:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-06T21:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-05T21:27:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-27T22:07:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-26T21:24:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-23T21:51:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-17T21:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-16T21:41:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-15T22:05:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-11T22:03:00.000-07:00

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?"

Old Drive-In theaters

2009-08-30T21:18:00.000-07:00

There are some things in life that should never become a thing of the past as so many unique things have. I am talking about the old drive-in movie theaters...if you are one of the lucky ones to have experienced a night at the outdoor theater, then you probably share my sentiments.
In our neck of the woods there wasn't much to do at all for entertainment so the Drive in theater was the " in place" to be. We would always get there before the sun went down, to get a good parking place, and make a trip or two to the snack bar, not only for popcorn & coke but to check the joint out and see who was there..
At the very front of the theater, just below the screen there was a little play ground for small children, swings, slide etc. there was always a crowd there. Being a teenager, we really didn't want to be up there pushing our siblings in the swing--Not cool at all..
By the time the sun disappeared and the twilight evening arrived we were settled in our car, the movie speaker clipped onto the car door or window, can you recall all of the crackling noise the speakers made? Hey, it was the best that we had ever known and we never thought a thing about it. At times you would loose the sound for some reason and that caused people to start honking their car horns---the same honking would occur when the movie film would break or run off of the reel.
Every Wednesday night was "Buck Night", a carload of people could get into the movie for one dollar. We could really 'pack'em in" all of my friends and sometimes people that I didn't even know, they would hear us talking of going to the theater and ask to ride with us--we usually put them in the trunk of the car! We weren't the only ones stashing people in the trunk on dollar night--you could look around after you parked and most all trunks were opened with people falling out of them like mexican jumping beans!
There are so few of the old drive-in's left but the one that I have my memories of is still operating--granted they had to re-do the screen because of a tornado hitting the old screen, and they no longer use the speakers for the movie sound, now it comes through your car radio... that would have sure been tough on us back then because half the time the radio's were broke.
The one movie that I recall that was such a "Blast" for all of us was "Jailhouse Rock" with none other than Elvis Presley--the place was so packed we were sharing speakers !! Not very exciting for the teens of today but we had lots of fun.. I wonder if all of my old friends ever think back to the good ole days and the fun we shared at the old drive-in theater--it was great! If you had to get there squashed up inside the car or packed into the trunk it was well worth it...

Peanut Butter Cookies

2009-08-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

Thinking about school, teachers, shopping for school etc.etc. reminded me of what I have not reflected back on--the lunchroom. I suppose in the cities they were probably referred to as the school cafeteria, but our country school had a lunchroom!
There was no pre-mixes or instant food prepared there, only fresh and home baked goodies. I remember the hot rolls were delicious, running a close second was the fried chicken--remember that I'm the gal not fond of chicken but it was great!
As the students went through the serving line the little ladies serving would ask if we wanted this or that, you didn't have to have everything put on your plate--you could request 2 rolls etc.in other words you got to eat exactly what you wanted. All of the students loved Fridays because they normally served Peanut Butter Cookies for dessert, they were soooooo good! The lady that was in charge of the lunchroom shared the recipe with Mom many years ago, I hope that you will enjoy them as we have through the years. I have baked them many,many times for my hubby,they are his favorite cookie.
Peanut Butter Cookies
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 white sugar
1/2 baking soda
1 1/4 cup of peanut butter
5/8 cup margarine
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Combine ingredients together and mix completely. Take a heaping tablespoon of dough and roll into ball's. Place on lightly greased cookie sheet. With the tines of a fork flatten the cookie slightly--dip the fork tines into some white sugar each time you flatten. I criss-cross my cookies with the fork. Bake at 375 degrees for 7--8 minutes or until set and turning light brown.
Every time I smell these baking it reminds me once again of the small things in everyday life that makes a lasting impression upon us. These little lunchroom ladies have been gone for many years now but I still remember their smiles and the pretty aprons they always wore and of course their delicious food.

Starting to school

2009-08-12T22:22:00.000-07:00

With all of the talk on the news and in the press about how much the sales of school clothing and supplies will be "off" this year--I have to confess my thought is "Big Deal!" Now I realize that the merchants depend on parents--grandparents buying little Johnny & Suzie all of the cutesy trendy things they have weighted their shelves down with and I don't wish them a loss of income BUT whatever happened to making do with what you have??
Growing up most people felt very fortunate to get a new pair of shoes to start to school in --for many of us if a relative or older sister had outgrown a pair then they would polished them up and you were the proud owner of a second hand pair of shoes. Mom would often go to the fabric store and buy STACKS of fabric to sew our new clothes from. She was so creative and could make a calico dress look like a designer creation---at least I thought she could. She would sew new shirts for Mick and Mike--adding pearl snaps and all--
She gave the girls a hair permanent--usually a Toni Or LILT--do you remember those? Oh, my they stunk to high heaven but you had these pretty curls by the time it was over. One time my Aunt gave my cousin a home permanent and got sidetracked by something else and forgot to "time it" correctly, she had some curling rods to just fall off--hair attached! Looked like she had the mange!! I always thought of that and would perch myself right in front of the clock--taking no chances..
Our school supplies were not at all complicated--notebook theme paper, a couple of composition books--pencils and later on ink fountain pins along with the bottle of ink, ruler and crayons and if you needed it a note book to carry it all in or maybe a book satchel. Think they use back packs today.
Stating ALL of this to make my case--some things were just simpler in the old days- no hassle having to dress in the latest fad--a lot less expensive and we were just as happy with what we had as the children of today are. Yea, I confess some new shoes every year would have been a nice touch BUT that would have made us different from the other kids ---not a good thing!!

What all the hog provided

2009-08-04T22:01:00.000-07:00

The hog killing and curing out the meat for the winter was only the beginning for the those doing the "hog work". The women would have a big cast iron wash pot heating over a open fire outside and the fat from the hog was placed inside it to melt down and this would be the lard (we now use shortening). I have used lard to make pie crust and they are MUCH better--flakier. I remember Momma had a real big tin can with a lid that she would put the lard in, it was kept sitting by the old kitchen cabinet--made it handy for her to use . In those days the kitchens weren't decorated as they are today--they were totally functional--no frills just serviceable.
The women would use some of that melted fat to fry the cracklings in (the pork skin); when they floated to the top --out they came and were salted and ready to snack on. Sometime you put some of the cracklings in your cornbread batter --made it rather crunchy. A lot of people think the meat in the hog head makes the best tamales ever---WELL, I'll take their word for it---Mom never tried it ...
The old lard that the women would save from frying food in, was put to good use in making the lye soap--that was a all day job. You would skim off as much of the "Food bits" from the melted lard before adding your lye etc. I won't bother to tell all they put into the soap as I REALLY doubt that anyone is biting at the bit to make a batch of soap. After it had cooled in the big pans that Mom poured the soap into, she would cut it into bars. She usually had me,Mickey and Mike to shred some of the bars with a grater to be used for washing clothes and for washing dishes. The other bars would be used for bathing---you sure didn't want to scrub very hard using this soap--it would remove skin and all! It was a luxury when people started buying bought soap...My Aunt would put some crushed lavender in her soap--smelled good but would still take the hide off!
Now, I'll just bet that a lot of you really didn't realize how much the hogs helped out people in the good ole days, HUH?? Fed us, provided fat to cook other foods with and kept us clean to boot!!

Hog Killin

2009-08-02T23:22:00.000-07:00

There was some things about the the "good ole days" that did not appeal to me--although it was necessary, I am speaking of the time of year that it was "Hog killing" time. Getting meat for the winter...
When the first blast of frigid cold would sweep across the plains and settle in on our part of the country, the men would get together bring their hogs with them and they would help one another clean,scrape, and process the hog. Daddy wouldn't allow me or my sisters to come out to the area where they worked.
Since one of my chores had been to "slop" the hog I really felt like I should know what the men were doing out around her pen---not aware that it was THAT time of year!! Well, I was in for a shock when I peeped through cracks of the barn--there hanging from a hook was my old hog--naked as a jaybird--no hair at all --just naked and waiting to be processed...My brother saw me and tells Daddy (that boy did love to get me in trouble) as though I couldn't find it on my own!! After Dad chewed me out and tells me to go to the house-- I vowed that I would NEVER slop a hog again and I never did.. It was just way, way too much to ask of this gal to fatten them up so we could kill them and eat them..Don't get me wrong I love pork and there is NOTHING better then the sugared cured pork that Dad made. He would go into the little room we had out back for curing meat and rub the sugar cure mix all over the hanging meat everyday.
If you haven't ever experienced going into the kitchen on a cold-cold morning and smelling some good sausage or sugar cured bacon or ham cooking along with hot buttered biscuits with homemade jam , I promise you one thing there is nothing and I do mean nothing that makes your mouth water and the morning a whole lot brighter...
Heck' that ole naked hog never crossed my mind after entering the kitchen!!!

Mom's Pecan Pie

2009-07-28T22:37:00.000-07:00

With all of this talk of the cafe and Mom's great cooking I want to share with you her pecan pie recipe. My hubby always loved her pecan pie, so she passed on the recipe to me many, many years ago. It is fast to mix and bake and believe me you will love it --- Grab your mixing bowl and pie plate-----
1-- 9 inch pie crust---(my sister uses the bought ones--not me, I do it the good ole' way and roll my own..) Either kind works
3 eggs, beaten well
1 cup of sugar
1/4 stick of margarine--melted
1 cup of Karo Syrup (white)
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pecans to cover the top of pie--think it takes a couple of cups
Mix the above ingredients well
Pour into unbaked pie crust
Spread pecans on the top of pie, covering all of the top
Bake @ 350 for 35 min. or until done
I hope that you and your family will enjoy it as much as we have through the years. Mom never minded giving her recipes out to people, in fact she was always honored when asked to share one....ENJOY!!!!

Truck Driving Gal

2009-07-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

There are some things that you do growing up and you reflect back on the the incident you are amazed that you are still here and kicking..Freddie keeps reminding me that I haven't written this particular story so here it is---oh, by the way, I think this should put to rest any doubts that we all have a guardian angel.
I was left at home to watch after Mick,Mike and Cinda while Mom and Dad were working at the cafe----well, everything went real well until around 1 O'clock or so and the 2 little brothers decided that they didn't want to stay out there in the country any longer..they convinced me that we should take Daddy's "bob tail truck" (that he used to haul hay) we talked it over and made the decision that we could drive it into town ( 10 miles).
The major problem that we faced was that we were so young and driving ANY sort of vehicle was non existent. Heck, it didn't faze us, I was the oldest and tallest so I was the driver--Mickey remembered how Dad started up the truck and shifted gears so he helped me with that, while Mike sat on the floor and held the foot feed down. We didn't really know about the brake and clutch so I was mashing both of them down.
We managed to drive that old truck those 10 very long miles to town...had to cross a Hwy. and I do remember that we were pretty "spooked" over that but our angel must have cleared the way for these little idiots.. Dad always pulled the truck to the back of the cafe and parked --the alley was very narrow and I drove over some trash cans but other than that no harm was done, except Dad had to buy Mrs. Salmon a new trash can. Mike was still sitting in the truck floor helping with the driving and he gets to really pumping the breaks while I was mashing the clutch--When I asked--o.k. when I yelled at him asking what he was doing he told me this is how Daddy stops this thing!!
When we go walking into the cafe and Mom & dad see's us and wants to know how we got to town---wellllll,I knew right away my chances of going to the movies that week-end was slim to none!! Daddy gets real pale looking. They were NOT happy with any of us--Cinda stayed clear of trouble as she told them that she was too little to help us..
By the way --the reason sweet little Mike was pumping the brake like a pump jack gone wild was that Dad was having brake trouble and was waiting on the mechanic to come out to the house and look at it---he was afraid to drive it into town..
This "outlaw" blood that runs in the family just has to "crop" out every now and then . ..It's a thousands wonders that we didn't drive right through the back of the cafe . Yep, we were certainly protected but I just got to tell you, it was one heck of a ride!!

Old days health care program

2009-06-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

Let's continue on with some more of the old days remedy's----hey I'm trying to save you some money here!!! I have decided one thing for sure, had I been subjected to most of these treatments--NO ONE would have EVER known if I was ailing in any way!!
CUTS-- Let your BEST dog lick any cut that you may have. This is a quick and sure cure for the cut...
COLDS----Starve a cold and stuff a fever--Cross a creek backwards..(I bet crossing the creek did the trick!)
HEADACHES---10 sniffs from a pair of dirty socks should do it...(I think that I
had much rather cross the creek).
CHICKEN POX--- This is a good one y'all .... For the chicken pox--undress your child and roll him under the chicken roost...This is suppose to stop the itching...
Doesn't it seem to you like the chickens played a huge roll in the old days such as eating the wart seed,providing the "droppings" beneath the roost, providing the feathers for pillows and feather beds, not to mention the eggs for cooking and of course the unfortunate chicken that had it's head rung off and than was fried southern style!!
The last treatment is for:
If your eyes feel tired or sore, lay down and close your eyes and rub Vick's on the eye lids..Keep them closed until the BURNING ends....
Just so you know---I MIGHT would have let the best dog lick my cut ---and I could starve my cold and crossed the creek backwards but no way and no how would I have smelled the dirty sock nor would I have rolled my child in the chicken Poop and I can promise you that my eyes could NEVER have gotten tired enough or sore enough for me to burn the heck out of them with Vick's!!!
Treatment's were crude and some didn't make a lick of sense but it was all they had and it was what our ancestor's were raised with....

Home remendies

2009-06-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

Thought that you may be interested in some of the old home remedy's from the good old days. I'll tell you one thing for sure, I would have to be sick enough to die to try these --but it was all they knew to do and the remedies were passed down from generation to generation.
Sore throat-- Make a poultice of Kerosene, turpentine & pure lard & place this on your neck. In 5 minutes you will be able to taste the kerosene in your throat, and the cure will have begun. Then take 2 to 3 drops of kerosene oil in a spoon with a pinch of sugar--swallow this to complete the treatment. ( I wonder if the people that took this treatment stayed away from any open flames??)
Ear aches--Heat in oven either salt or cornmeal. Tie it up in a soft bag or sock and apply to hurting ear. Mom made many of these for me as a child because I had a lot of ear aches--after smelling the hot cornmeal all night I would wake up wanting cornbread that day. The heat did ease the pain some.
How to get rid of a seed wart--Are you ready for this???
The directions say to pick at the seed wart with a needle to make it bleed, get one of the seeds and feed it to a chicken, and the wart will go away!!! Now don't you just have to wonder how on earth ANYONE could come up with this---don't ask me if it works--I'm just passing these things along....

Soda Pop

2009-06-16T22:39:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a soft drink was a treat for people when I was young or at least it was in our part of the country. We called them soda pop, and there were brands and flavors that have been gone a long time----darn that makes me feel old!! My favorite was a NuGrape, it was bottled in the neatest little bottle, recently while we were shopping in a antique store Freddie found a Nugrape bottle and bought it for me---a Man after my own heart giving me the old bottle--I love it.
All of us had our favorites--Jerry & Bev both liked Coke's, Mickey loved Dr. Pepper- Mike's choice was usually Root Beer and Cinda's preference was Orange Crush.
Later people quit calling them soda pop and started saying soda water---then some would say soft drink..Later it was just Coke--someone would ask if you wanted a coke and sure I did , then the orders would be for Dr. Pepper, Nugrape, 7-up anything maybe except a coke. Coke just covered ALL soft drinks. I am not sure what people call it today--I still say Coke and figure everyone knows what I mean...
Speaking of the drinks that are no longer made, reminds me of a few candy bars we loved that fell by the way side--soft peanut patty. Toppers, Jo-Boy,we liked a few others that are no longer made but I can't remember the names------(my memory is becoming a thing of the past too.)

Summer

2009-06-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

With the days getting really nasty and hot ( I am not a fan of hot weather) I am sure thankful for all of the air conditioning that we have today--our homes--our cars and when we shop all of the stores are cool. Not so in the old days, as I have mentioned before, at bedtime we would get our quilt and go looking for whatever breeze may be blowing into the house and that was the spot that we put down our pallet. A few people that we knew had electric fans--(they lived in town)...guess that the country folks had to be tougher or crazier to survive the heat of the summer.
The stores in town had several ceiling fans but no air conditioners. Its funny how and what you remember--like the things I so vividly recall about the drug store--from the wonderful smell of the soda fountain to the sound that the ceiling fans made--a distinct swishing sound.
You traveled with every car window down when you went anywhere--most women would tie a headscarf over their hair to try and keep it half way presentable-- - it was all to no avail. When you stepped out of that furnace called a car your hair looked like Phillis Dillards--big sweat rings were somewhere on your clothing--the ladies make-up had melted and rolled to their stomach. In general you looked like something the dog's dragged in!!
The first car air conditioner I ever saw was a round oblong tube looking thing that you stuck into your car window--rolled the window up than placed ice inside of this "object". It had a little fan that in theory blew across the ice than into the car---ahhh to be rich enough to ride in such style would have been nice!
The old days and old ways are and will always be near and dear to my heart but when it is 100 degrees plus outside I don't hesitate to enjoy the modern way of life.
Remembering how hard the work days were for people back then--never mind the weather--hot or shivering cold they had their work to get done. All of the canning the women had to do was always in the heat of summer standing over the hot stoves. Life was tough but most never complained-it was all that they knew. It is no wonder that the life span was much shorter back in those days.

Mom's ice cream

2009-05-26T22:37:00.000-07:00

Our days are getting warmer and all too soon we will be be sweltering in the hot days of summer. I am not a warm weather person, never have been and never will be. Our family like so many others would get out the old crank ice cream freezer frequently-- to enjoy homemade ice cream. Every child anxiously awaited to see if they would be the one to get to sit on the top of the ice cream freezer...After Mom had filled the freezer with the ice cream mixture, she put it inside of the wooden freezer bucket-placed the crank on it than put the ice and ice cream salt all around the bucket--alternating the ice & salt. The final step was folding a towel & placing it on top of the freezer..Now this was the place that EVERY CHILD wanted to be... it really cooled you off--also gave you the coldest bottom north of the Brazos. The job of turning the crank wasn't near as much fun, in fact as the cream hardened, the cranking became very hard to turn.
We had some peach trees and Mom was always making peach cobbler or peach fried pies to go with the ice cream. Sometimes she sliced the peaches, sprinkled some sugar over the fruit and we had it as a topping....That was my favorite.
Mom's ice cream recipe is not a real rich tasting cream but it is still our favorite-- in later years she started making a much richer ice cream I will post later---but for today, go get your ice cream freezer and lets "crank up" some of Mom's old fashioned ice cream ==
6 eggs-- beat good
3 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 can pet milk
Homogenized milk
Dash of vanilla--(I use 1 tsp.)
After mixing all of the above real good, pour the mixture into the freezer can- place the can into your freezer bucket. Finish filling the freezer can with homogenized milk..Put the lid on, attach the crank---now you are into business!! If there is a little one around, slap a towel on top and place your little sweetie pie on top -- don't forget while you are cranking be sure to tell them a story of the good ole days.....( I am well aware that probably NONE of you have a crank freezer but it may be a good investment--for you & for the lucky child that will have the memory .)

Storm cellars & Bad Clouds

2009-05-20T22:53:00.000-07:00

If there is ever a bad storm cloud brewing on the horizon, It has my undivided attention. I hold a very heavy respect for storms and what damage they can do. In the old days most everyone had a storm cellar and it was always near the house, believe me when a bad storm hit you didn't want to go walking half of a mile to the cellar. People didn't call them storms as much as they were referred to as "bad clouds". The cellars were just dug by hand and most would be 6 feet deep or so, cross ties or some sort of timber would be the ceiling then of course the dirt piled on top of that. I remember our cellar door had a rope hanging down on the inside and while we where inside of the cellar during a bad cloud Daddy would sit on the bottom step and hold on to the rope to keep the door from blowing open. Many times I remember the winds being so strong he would brace his feet across the steps and hold on with both hands. Pretty scary, huh?? Mom would store her canned vegetables down in the cellar, there was a lantern down there & maybe a chair or 2. As we would be heading out the door for the cellar Mom would grab a couple of quilts for us to use as pallets.I remember one time we had gone to the cellar and she threw the quilts down on the floor before Daddy got the lantern lit--we were laying there- think it was Mickey,Mike ,Bev and myself on the quilt and Mike (he was very young)told Mom that something was wiggling under his back...I assure you a bolt of lighting couldn't have struck any of us we were moving sooo fast clearing away from the quilt. Unfortunately in a small cellar you just can't go very far--Daddy let go of the door & jerked the quilt up with one hand and used the old shovel he kept down there to club the BIG RATTLESNAKE to death. It was quite exciting, Mom hollering for Daddy to be careful,yelling for us to stay out of the way (HA, no problem there) the kids crying, the ole snake doing his rattling number VERY loud--a tornado could been on top of us and we wouldn't have heard it!! We spent many a night in our old storm cellar "riding out" bad clouds, and not one good memory do I have of those good ole days. First of all its just plain spooky being under the ground, BUT there was a time that many of us would have kissed the dirt floor of a cellar if we could have only been in one. You want to hear about a tornado??Well I have a tale for you!!Tomorrow--

Family time

2009-05-18T22:26:00.000-07:00

I am the first to admit that the comforts of our homes today far exceed what we had in our homes in the good ole days --things like air conditioning--no longer necessary to grab your quilt and go looking for the coolest place to make your pallet for the night. Electric dishwashers have to be the best invention EVER--no more fussing whose turn it is to wash dishes--heating the water etc. Many things that have made our life easier and made us more comfortable--I think that these very things have also cost us in the form of time spent together as a family. While doing the dishes with any of my sisters or on a rare occasion my brothers (they always seemed to escape the dish washing)we would talk about everything and share things with one another.. Had we not been thrown into sharing our job together I doubt that we would have talked & shared as we did.
On cold winter nights I reflect back to the nights that Dad would have a big fire going in our old wood stove--which sat in the very center of the living room, we would all "drag" our chairs around the stove and Mom & Dad talked about their day or talked to us about something that was going on in our lives. It was always a family pow-wow--everybody had an input, some more than others (ahem). Many times Mom would pop popcorn and have homemade fudge for us to feast on while we enjoyed the warmth of the stove. If it happen to be a Sat. night we would listen to the Louisiana Hayride on the battery radio--Beverly was the only one that could find the station as something was wrong with the dial, she clamped a wooden clothes pin onto the dial wheel inside of the radio and would turn it just right.It just didn't get any better than those nights- Moms good candy and corn, the big stove generating wonderful heat and that ole radio pumping out great country music..Sometimes Mom & Dad would sing along with them... contentment filled the room. Isn't it strange that something so simple and really just a normal night in those days, left such a lasting impression ----a family of 8 sitting together around the stove,talking,laughing and listening to one another...Now that I look back on it I realize it wasn't just contentment that was felt in the room ,it was the love my family shared -- now dear ones I promise you memories like this can't be beat!!

My Goose

2009-05-11T21:57:00.000-07:00

I told you about Mick & Mike horses and Cinda had her a dog naturally- but I have told you about my pet--guess you could call him that..Mean as the old devil he was - he would chase you to get a a little pinch of your skin than he would twist until you screamed. I am thinking that he got out of Uncle Huts truck one day while he was there--since I have told you how mean he was, don't guess any explanation is needed as to why Uncle Hut left him!
I have never really been a animal lover --(the rest of the family made up for my lack of it) but there was just something about the old contrary goose that I did like. He made me laugh that's for sure --- like the time that uncle Presley was staying with us and was sitting on the porch step about half asleep and ole goosie woosie snook up behind him and got a nice big chunk of Presleys ear--didn't have time to twist it though as Uncle Presley screamed. jumped up and was swinging his fist. The goose takes off around the house- half running and half flying just squawking like crazy...don't blame him as there was a crazy old man running barefoot through the grass burrs cussing him and making all kinds of threats of a cooking pot.
The goose would chase Mick,Mike,Jerry & Bev but never did me or Cinda. Do you think that he may have recognized the contrary nature of my ways?? He was pushing his luck with Daddy-- Mom was always telling Daddy she wasn't cooking a goose. One day Mom was outside hanging out the laundry and this awful commotion started up--the way Mom was yelling my name I knew it wasn't good. As I get to the door I saw daddy sitting in the truck laughing like all get out-all the family was peeking out the windows and telling me that I had better hurry--and what trouble that goose was in..and that this goose was cooked for sure!!!There by the clothes line was Mom going around in circles holding a wet shirt with a goose attached to the end of it -- poor old goosie woosie looked like one of those tilt a whirl rides at the fair being slung around with his wings flapping up & down---up & down-- around & around--. He refused to let go ... I took the shirt from Mom and thought that he would keep holding on and she could go the house---WRONG off he goes chasing her. She made it inside -- don't ever recall seeing Mom run like that.
I came in from school one day and there was no sign of the goose---there wasn't anything cooking in the oven--I couldn't find any feathers laying around. Its a mystery to this day whatever became of him but I wouldn't be at all surprised if one of the neighbors didn't have him laying real close to some cornbread dressing!!

Mom

2009-05-10T21:41:00.000-07:00

Today being Mothers day my thoughts have been on Mom (& also my sweet mother-in-law')

They were such wonderful women and a blessing in my life.
Being the mother of 6 children, Mom certainly knew every detail of being a mother and always seem to have a solution for any problem that we had, big or small she had answers. Mom was alot like Grandpa Corley- her ability to laugh at so many things when some would want to cry--and she had
the gift of telling great stories as he did. She took after Ma Blanche with her cooking --she was a great cook as most of you can recall. She would carry food to every elderly person that she knew and most likely some that she didn't know. The woman could sew ANYTHING--and didn't use a pattern most of the time. When Jerry was rodeoing -Mom made all of her
riding clothes--no pattern, just design it as she went.When Bev was in high school she wanted a skirt- I believe they were called squaw skirts-anyway they were very popular but too expensive for us to buy. Mom made her one that was beautiful! She made all of our clothes and I don't recall that it bothered any of us not to have store bought clothes--hers was much prettier. She continued loving to sew until her health and eye sight prevented it. One of my funny memories of her sewing is about a little cloth black doll. She called me one day and asked what I was doing--I tell her that I was sewing a little black doll with pig tails. She asked about how tall, how did I do the face, dress her etc.etc. So the next day when I called her she gets to laughing and tells me that after we had talked the day before she goes in & finds some black fabric and cuts out a doll--no pattern, of course--just free hands all of it. I asked how it turned out and she really laughed and said "its the ugliest thing you ever looked at". I told her to keep it that I wanted to see it. My next visit I walk in & she has it sitting on her table & I burst out laughing because sure enough it was the ugliest thing that I had ever seen. She was going to trash it but I told her I wanted it--The little ugly thing is on a shelf in my dining room and makes me smile every time I see it. Mom was a great quilter when she had the time. For years she would meet with the ladies in our community when they met & quilted at each others home. She never could put her name in the drawing that they held each time to determine what sort of covered dish they were to bring to the quilting--they just told her she had to always bring her angel food pie & coconut pie.
Like grandpa, she loved to play jokes on her children and grand-children. How many of you remember playing outside at night and she would slip out the back door and come around the corner of the house with a sheet covering her--making a scary sound? There are so many fun things that she did that I will tell later on....she was a character!!
She loved to make up poems and was good at it--the ones she mailed to us I have saved and I know that Tom has all of the ones she sent him-
There is much to said about Mom one doesn't really know where to start or where to end. We will be remembering her many times in our stories of the old days - she will continue to make us smile with the memories she left everyone of us--We were blessed to have had the love that she so freely bestowed upon all of us--

Little brothers

2009-05-08T21:18:00.000-07:00

Children didn't have a lot of toys when I was a little girl--oh we had some toys but nothing like the children nowadays. We used our imagination and created things to play with. Mickey had all that he needed--in the little quarter horse Daddy bought him. Her name was Crybaby--she was a short compact heavy muscled sorrel-and would do ANYTHING he wanted her to do. He roped on her--competed in pole bending--she was good at running the barrels because she very fast. He had the patience to train her to do whatever he wanted--truthfully as long as he was fooling with a horse he was happy and content. Mike would work along with him but if we were playing rodeo Mike would use Daddy's horse. Seems we played rodeo REAL often--like everyday! I would normarly be the announcer and Cinda would clap and cheer. We had an old billy goat --(lands alive I can still remember how bad he smelled) they roped him for awhile until the goat got wise to it. He would go off and hide if he saw Mickey or Mike saddling the horses.
Someone left a mean ole jackass at our house once--now that got to be really fun!! They turned into bronc riders--got their tails thrown off the first few times but was persistent in trying for that 8 second ride... guess that was the first of many ,many 8 second rides for both of my brothers--they were good at what they did!
They had some little metal horses that we would play in the sand with--didn't have a truck or horse trailer so we made them out of match boxes--we'd pick up twigs from tree limbs and build our horse lot out of that. Onetime I carried a little doll out to play with her and fixed her up with a little match box car --colored bright red--really a snazzy little rig--heck I told them she was a cowgirl but before you could say "coming out of chute # 1"--Mike had stepped on the snazzy little rig and Mick had pulled the dolls arm off---they threw a fit that I would try to play with a doll in their rodeo.. NOT TO WORRY though because their sister stepped on the silly horses and bent them--trashed the precious rodeo fences and proceeded to knock the fire out of them--of course the fight was on. Cinda would get scared when we would get to fighting and would run to the house for Momma. Mom could call out our names in such a way that all action ceased in a hurry...
We would fight and fuss but don't all siblings? Not a one of us ever questioned that we were loved by the other. They were the best!

Wading mud Puddles

2009-05-04T22:27:00.000-07:00

I got to thinking today about the different things that we were told as children for instance--we (Me-Mickey-Mike & Cinda) loved to wade in mud puddles --well in the front of Grandpa's house would be one as big as a small tank-oh it was great fun until grandpa told us we best get out before a turtle grabbed one of our toes because if it latched on to our toe it wouldn't let go until it thundered again ! That really gave us reason to worry about it a little because in that part of the country you can go a LONG time and not hear it thunder. On that particular day we decided we'd just stay right in the middle of the big puddle and Grandpa wouldn't come get us and besides we didn't see any turtles---wasn't long until mike gets to hollering & crying Momma ' Momma help me a turtle has my toe---Beverly came out there & removed her shoes & waded out to get Mike and to remove that big ole turtle--the way he was hollering it just had to be a monster of a turtle--She picks him up and gets to laughing --he had stepped on a big cockleburr & it was wedged between his toes...I don't know why me or Mick one didn't go to help him--guess being ornery or else we thought there may be a big turtle in there after all---

Remembering our ancestors

2009-05-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

I hope that sharing stories about our Grandparent's has been giving you a pretty good impression of what kind of people they were and perhaps that you now know them in some small way....it is sad for me to think of these dear people being forgotten in time so hopefully sharing a bit of our heritage--yours and mine--taking a glimpse into their lives -will make all of us keep them alive in our hearts. I believe that the person we become has much to do with someone in our past that made a deep impression or inspired us in some way. That person for me was my Ma Blanche--her labors of love that she performed everyday for her family and other people--her creative and talented hands forever busy making something for someone.. My love for old primitive kitchen antiques goes back to those "good ole days"--my love for sewing and quilting I know I learned from sitting by her side. I would NEVER claim to be the cook that she was but I do still enjoy cooking many of her dishes --even my feeble attempt to tell stories goes back to listening to Ma Blanche & Grandpa telling us stories. Everyone should be so blessed in having such a remarkable and memorable Grandmother.Whenever I read or hear Proverbs Chapter 31 Verses 10-31---I am thinking " that's my Ma Blanche!"....She passed away at the age of 94..

Grandpa driving (told by aunt Moz.)

2009-04-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

Dad went to work on a hay baler for Mr. Ballard and one day Mr. Ballard said "Thead .I have to go home early - you can go home in the truck." Well Dad wouldn't tell him that he didn't drive so when it was time to quit he walked about a mile to Uncle Elmer & Aunt Ruths house and got Uncle Elmer to go get the truck started & when he got it in the right gear for dad -he jumped off of the running board & Dad herded the truck home--next morning Mom did the same thing and he got back to the hay baler and I don't guess that Mr. Ballard ever knew that Dad couldn't drive.
Dad had a beautiful deep bass voice and enjoyed singing. He put nick names on all of his children Marie was -Reecie--Mozelle-Shockie--Lavoice--Peepsie--E.L.-boodie--Foster-Tot--and he called Jan-Janie. When Jan was born and was down syndrone the Dr. told them that her life span would be 8--10 years and that he suggested putting her in a State home ( many did ) Dad sat there a few minutes then said "Thank you Dr. but Jan will live at home and be loved and treated just like our other five." and thats the way it was with him--family and his love for family came first. Jan lived to be 38 yrs.old and had a quality life- could oil paint beautifully- play the organ and was a loyal Steer football fan-she went to all pep rallies and football games. the team honored her one year by presenting her a football jacket. She was such a blessing to everyone1

Grandpa & his dogs

2009-04-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

Aunt Mozelle continues with her memories--dad loved all animals and always had several dogs--mostly Coon hunting dogs. Late in the afternoon I can still hear him say " Blanche you got time to cook my dogs some corn bread?"she always did and his dogs got sweet milk and corn bread for supper.Dad had a remedy for whatever ailed his dogs,cows,or horses. There wasn't a veterinarian in any of the small towns and rural areas so Dad used remedies that grandpa and granny Miller passed down. I remember him sending me to the Fletchers to borrow some sulphur. He used lots of kerosene,linament,grease from fat meat and sulphur. All of the neighboring men would come by and ask him what he would do for certain illness's. Every week he would go coon hunting with some of his friends- they would come pick him & his dogs up & they would stay out real late sometimes if the dogs was finding coons to tree. He could tell which dog had the coon treed by the sound of its voice. When it was time to call the dogs back & go to the house- he had a horn--made from a cows horn -that he would blow and his dogs would know it was their master & come but the other mans dogs wouldn't as it wasn't the right sound for them. He traded and sold dogs like some do horses.

Grandpa 2

2009-04-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

Aunt Moz. continues--One of Dad's favorite memories was when he was breaking a team of horses to pull a plow or wagon.He hitched them to a wagon and Marie (my Mom) wanted to go with him. She was about 2 yrs.old. She was sitting beside Dad and something spooked the horses. They jumped & began to run (its called a runaway) . It threw Marie backwards and she rolled nearly to the back of the wagon. Dad finally got the horses stopped and Marie jumped up & said "Shoot'em
again Daddy shoot'em again". Every farmer around wanted him to stack their bundle feed in the fall because he could put up a neat -tight & strong stack that had staying power.Another memory is that one summer Dad did some fencing for Cecil Ray Epleys dad. Cecil Ray took up with him right away.Cecil had a pony that he rode bareback. One day Cecil came where he was working and he had been running the horse & it had rubbed a sore on his bottom. He wanted Dad to look & see what was hurting ( Cecil was just a little kid) when dad told him it had rubbed a sore & the skin was off - Cecil wanted to know where the skin went. Dad said " Oh it just slid down your leg. He looked around & Cecil was coming out of his pants- dad asked him what he was doing & Cecil said 'I'm hunting that piece of skin so that they could paste it back on"

Grandpa

2009-04-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

I asked Aunt Mozelle a few years ago if she would write down some memories she had of Grandpa and Ma Blanche--she did Grandpa but never got to write Ma Blanche's as her health declined.I want to share with you what she wrote about her Dad (our grandpa).My Dad was a outdoorsman. He knew more about bird tracks and nests and rabbits and even snakes. He watched their tracks -knew habits like where they went for water and what they fed on--and where they lived. He walked most everywhere he went and as he walked he studied the outdoor creatures.He never learned to drive a car & didn't want to. Mom drove wherever we went.My Dad was a prankster & it was his delight to tell one of his tales and the visiting children always believed it. One such was about a night that he was walking home & he heard something coming up behind, getting closer & closer. He saw that it was a big ole ugly black bear & it was gaining on him fast so he stopped and stuck his arm & hand out & when the bear got up there he ran his hand down the ole bears throat, caught him by the tail- turned him wrong side out & headed him back the other way!!