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.