The other day, I referred to a pair of earrings as "ear bobs." My grandbaby found this to be a strange description. She thinks it odd, also, that I often say "pocketbook" instead of "purse."
I started thinking, as she and I discussed these terms, of other words and phrases we don't hear or use any longer. Most of them, are vocabulary from time spent at my Grandma's house.
water cooler
ice milk
screened porch
Tuesday, September 30, 2014
No one ever got bored at Grandma's
My sister and I were waxing nostalgic. The discussion led, as it often does, to the many ways we entertained (read: occupied) ourselves and each other. Neither of us could remember ever being bored. Even (and maybe especially) at our Grandma's house, there was always plenty for us to do.
These are some of the things we did at Grandma's:
we played chinese checkers
and card games
and Scrabble
We played school (I always wanted to be the teacher)
and dress up.
We spent hours looking through her copies of McCall's and Better Homes and Gardens magazines.
We cut out the Betsy McCall paperdolls and dressed them for each month and season.
We sorted buttons from Grandma's button box
In the summer
we helped make freezers of ice cream
and with the canning of vegetables and
making of jelly
we listened to the song of birds and she taught us to identify them
we took naps under a buzz fan
we chased lightening bugs
and played in the water sprinkler
Before our baths in the evening, Grandma scrubbed our dirty feet and elbows and knees with a brush on the back sink to remove the first layer of grime.
In the autumn we took long walks in the woods. Along the way, we stopped to look at lichen and moss and animal nests and dens and anything else we found interesting. Grandma never rushed us and would hold us up to inspect more closely. She was willing to explain and instruct as to those things we were curious about.
There was a full set of animal encyclopedias and a book of flora and fauna we referred to after our walks to identify those things we wondered about.
She saved letters to from friends and relatives read and reread. they were precious things to her and she kept them always.
She kept photographs in cookie tins where they stayed protected and free of dust or moisture. They, too, were prized by her. She inscribed the backs of the photos with names and dates and often humorous observations or antedot
Her mother, our great grandmother, came from Arkansas to stay with her only daughter for the winter. Grandma and her mama (Grandma Katie, by name) set at great wood frames and quilted on cold and inclement days.
At first thaw, they could be found "making garden." Much of the spring and summer months were spent there. The garden nearest the house was reserved mostly for flowers. Further away, there was a huge vegetable garden where there was always work to be done and fun to be had.
There hung on the front porch, a swing that was occupied as much as it was not. We sat there many an hour and watched cars pass on the highway and made up games regarding types and colors.
Not much television was watched other than the news and Laurence Welk.
We were simply too busy to care much for tv while we were at Grandma's.
My sisters and I have tried to explain to our kiddos what we did growing up. Our progeny are more easily bored than we were and they have wondered what we found to do.
They don't understand, so much, what fun we could have playing under the rose arbor or the great mimosa tree or in the fish pond, or on the gate where sweet peas grew or on bag swing under the hill or the board swing near the second garage.
They don't understand, most of them, why no one of us ever got bored at Grandma's.
These are some of the things we did at Grandma's:
we played chinese checkers
and Scrabble
We played school (I always wanted to be the teacher)
and dress up.
We spent hours looking through her copies of McCall's and Better Homes and Gardens magazines.
We cut out the Betsy McCall paperdolls and dressed them for each month and season.
We sorted buttons from Grandma's button box
In the summer
we helped make freezers of ice cream
and with the canning of vegetables and
making of jelly
we listened to the song of birds and she taught us to identify them
we took naps under a buzz fan
and played in the water sprinkler
Before our baths in the evening, Grandma scrubbed our dirty feet and elbows and knees with a brush on the back sink to remove the first layer of grime.
In the autumn we took long walks in the woods. Along the way, we stopped to look at lichen and moss and animal nests and dens and anything else we found interesting. Grandma never rushed us and would hold us up to inspect more closely. She was willing to explain and instruct as to those things we were curious about.
There was a full set of animal encyclopedias and a book of flora and fauna we referred to after our walks to identify those things we wondered about.
She saved letters to from friends and relatives read and reread. they were precious things to her and she kept them always.
She kept photographs in cookie tins where they stayed protected and free of dust or moisture. They, too, were prized by her. She inscribed the backs of the photos with names and dates and often humorous observations or antedot
Her mother, our great grandmother, came from Arkansas to stay with her only daughter for the winter. Grandma and her mama (Grandma Katie, by name) set at great wood frames and quilted on cold and inclement days.
At first thaw, they could be found "making garden." Much of the spring and summer months were spent there. The garden nearest the house was reserved mostly for flowers. Further away, there was a huge vegetable garden where there was always work to be done and fun to be had.
There hung on the front porch, a swing that was occupied as much as it was not. We sat there many an hour and watched cars pass on the highway and made up games regarding types and colors.
Not much television was watched other than the news and Laurence Welk.
We were simply too busy to care much for tv while we were at Grandma's.
My sisters and I have tried to explain to our kiddos what we did growing up. Our progeny are more easily bored than we were and they have wondered what we found to do.
They don't understand, so much, what fun we could have playing under the rose arbor or the great mimosa tree or in the fish pond, or on the gate where sweet peas grew or on bag swing under the hill or the board swing near the second garage.
They don't understand, most of them, why no one of us ever got bored at Grandma's.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Friday, September 19, 2014
Miss Ellie: Queen of the Yard
Ellie spent so much time last winter in the house that she forgot she is queen of the yard. The weather so so extreme none of us could bear to leave her out in it. She rather liked being a house dog and still begs at the door to come in. She is content in her settled position, though, when her pets come out to play.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Thursday, September 18, 2014
with a board and a piece of rope
The weather was cold and rainy for September late last week. Then, suddenly, on Saturday, the sun came out, the clouds moved off and the outside was looking really good to a certain 7 year old.
She and her granddad had built an old school board swing: a piece of board and a piece of rope which has become her ticket to high adventure.
I get that. I am a fan of board swings having passed many happy hours as a child swinging to and fro. She spent most of Saturday swinging. Her granddad was out with her most of that time, although the swing is hung in clear view of the kitchen through the great windows in the breakfast room. I watched them as I was about Saturday chores.
At one point, she stopped to take a picture with his cell phone of he and the blonde lab who is the queen of the yard as they sat on a bench near the now beloved swing.
It was a happy time for all of us: her getting to play at something she loves. He as he watched her play and me, able to watch them and still get things done without them underfoot.
Who would have ever thought we could all get that much happiness from board and a piece of rope.
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
a proud day
I became aware that today was to be a proud day for me before I was fully awake this morning. A friend who rises early sent me a snapshot of an editorial in the mornings paper. In the single picture with the article my baby girl is pictured hugging her first "client." The story of the client is remarkable. She is not really the client of my baby, rather of a whole team of extraordinary folk. And she is more like a friend, these days, family even, than anything else.
I know for myself that when one travels a long, hard and emotional road with you, a relationship forms, whether we intend it to or expect it to, or not. That's what happened here.
My daughter signed on to what she initially called a project via a law school professor's request. The project became a case as she described it, but not for long. The case was about a person who soon figured prominently in the thoughts and daily activities of the baby daughter.
A one year roller coaster ride for the law student and her mentors ended on a high note a woman wrongfully convicted of killing her child was exonerated. The text of the editorial tells more of the story better than I possibly can. What I can say here is that I am exceedingly proud of my baby and loved waking up this morning to more good news.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
A man and his girl(s)
The Hub spent a majority of the weekend hanging out in the yard with two of his favorite girls. One of them took a photo of him and the other, They both look so happy and peaceful in it! (One of them, in fact, looks almost asleep!) Given all the time he spent playing with the girls, he has cause to be tired, Or maybe he is just serenely happy. Time with those girls has a tendency to make him that so!
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Sunday, September 14, 2014
Saving the Date
The cards at the right just came in the mail. They announce the wedding date of my handsome nephew Jon Michael and his childhood sweetheart (who we've actually considered for ever so long.) They are a darling couple (don't you think?!) and I am looking forward to celebrating their nuptials with the family in Florida next summer.Last weekend my sister accompanied her daughter-in-law to be and the mother of the bride to be to Dallas in search of the perfect dress (among other things.) I am that expecting the dress and everything else about the wedding will be as darling as the save the date cards!
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Friday, September 5, 2014
Kiss the cook
It was worth all the effort on everyone's part. I'll wash dishes any time to be able to eat their cooking. Right after I kiss the cooks.
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Tuesday, September 2, 2014
officially fall
We started to school, when I was a child, the Tuesday after Labor Day every year.To my mind, summer still begins the Friday before Memorial Day and ends on Labor Day.
These days, though, summer grows shorter and shorter. School supply lists are posted in local stores while Fourth of July decorations are still on shelves nearby.
Many of the school supplies we had are now extinct. Some, like the Big Chief tablet have been declared politically incorrect. Others are still around but not so easy to find. Take those big, fat pencils we used in the early years... I looked everywhere before I found some for my grandbaby when she started to kindergarten a couple of years back.
Old school cigar boxes would probably be frown on as a receptacle for school supplies and what kid wouldn't rather have a cartoon character or super hero box. Not me, though, I much prefer the boxes cigars actually come in to any or kind, however cute it might be. The leaves have yet to start falling as I write this. But they don't herald the coming of fall for me. It's the school supplies.
Wedding planning
The picture above was taken by my baby daughter of her niece, my grandbaby, who will be a flower girl in her auntie's wedding a year from now. We have a while to plan and for that I am thankful. To take the time to savor and enjoy the planning of it all is something I do not take for granted.
You see, there is an 18 year gap in girls in the family.
From the birth of the bride-to-be in 1989 until the birth of the flower girl-to-be, there is a long lull in female births for us. That means this wedding will be the last for us until the little bridal magazine reader or one of her younger cousins say "I do" sometime way into the future.
The picture of her looking at wedding dresses in her aunt's "Bridal Guide" indicates how serious she is studying on all of this. Truth be told, we all are.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
You see, there is an 18 year gap in girls in the family.
From the birth of the bride-to-be in 1989 until the birth of the flower girl-to-be, there is a long lull in female births for us. That means this wedding will be the last for us until the little bridal magazine reader or one of her younger cousins say "I do" sometime way into the future.
The picture of her looking at wedding dresses in her aunt's "Bridal Guide" indicates how serious she is studying on all of this. Truth be told, we all are.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
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