In Years to Come...

when the grandchildren are grown, with children  of their own, and they gather for Thanksgiving, one will say, "Do you remember the Thanksgiving supper of 2013 when Mama Charlotte dropped the dish of potatoes into the oven?"  They'll chuckle fondly and one of the small ones will ask for the story, "Tell us about it!" 

"She had told the daughters not to bring anything; she'd fix all the food and for them to come to eat around 6:00 in the evening.  The turkey took a while longer to finish cooking and before the potatoes went into the oven, mostly to be warmed, the kids and grand kids gathered in and talked and waited.  All of a sudden we heard a little yell from her and then a loud crash of glass meeting steel.  We all rushed in to see what had happened and there she stood holding the 13" x 9" baking dish with only a few potatoes at one end.  We thought she might cry as she told us, 'When the potatoes were ready to take out of the oven, I reached in and lifted them up, and the next thing I knew, potatoes were sliding to one end of the dish and my hand just couldn't hold it.  So I dropped it, spilling potatoes into the back corner of the oven!  Now there's only a few left, but thankfully the dish didn't break and I wasn't burned!'  She was so sad about it.  One of the daughters spooned out most of the mess and cleaned up the rest the next morning since Mama Charlotte's knees would have hurt really bad had she been left to squat down and clean it by herself.  But it all worked out o.k. and we'll always remember the Thanksgiving supper of 2013."

~~~Charlotte ~~~

No picture for this one!

Do You Know...

the Little Miss Sunbeam story?  I had no idea until last week I noticed words with the picture on the bread sack:  "Not by bread alone."  On the back of the sack was the story:

"Created by well-known children's book illustrator Ellen Segner in the early 1940s, Little Miss Sunbeam was actually drawn from life, based on a little blue-eyed blond girl Ellen saw playing in New York City's Washington Square Park.  Based upon these drawings, Ms. Segner developed the original oil painting that became the Sunbeam trademark."

I only remember one other painting, the little girl eating buttered bread, so I was surprised to see this one and thought it very appropriate for this time of Thanksgiving, when stores are open all day and I fear our day of thankfulness may be forgotten in years to come.

Happy Thanksgiving to my blogging friends,

Charlotte

Kitten Tales

I don't know if you've met Callie, my oldest cat.  She lives outside, in one shed or another, just wherever she prefers on any given day.  She's very affectionate, as long as she's not in my arms, then she squirms until I put her down.  These are her kittens from early fall;

just take your pick of which color you like best.  It's been several years since we've had a yellow cat, so I was thrilled, although I knew I'd never get to keep one.  They were born in between some big, extra chicken house fans and  bags of animal bedding on the back of a truck.  The weather was getting cooler and they cried a lot.  Whenever Callie realized I knew where they were, she moved them.  About this time we were selling a bull and the farmer had taken the stock trailer to the barn to load him.  Something told me to look inside the trailer, and there were the kittens, huddled up in a corner at the front of the trailer.  All I had to put them in was my bucket of cat food (picture) so they took a ride back to the shed.  On the way I stopped and picked up a little hay to make a bed for them.  The first thing Callie did was jump into the tub they were in, grab up the white one and jump to the ground.  I put it back in the tub and she got another one and just disappeared.  The next time I went to feed her, I found the kittens in the seat of the BobCat, then they were gone again.  I didn't expect to ever see any of them again because the dogs here have killed all the kittens born on this farm this summer.

Now I know some of you adore dogs, I understand that, but I hate dogs for this very reason.  The dogs here are the results of two "dumped" dogs, one of which had seven puppies and two are still with us, making four, useless, annoying animals.  Almost every time they kill a kitten, they bring it to the back door!

Well, back to the kittens; last week Callie brought the gray and white kitten and one yellow kitten back to the shed and put them up high on the back of a truck.  They were safe there, and I told her so, but again, once she realized I knew where they were, she moved them to the ground.  Two days, and the yellow one is found at the back door.  So yesterday I put the other one back up on the truck, and when I went back for the afternoon feeding, it was gone, but I heard it meowing.  With much sound-searching I found it ~ on top of the stock trailer!  I couldn't reach it; last night was very cold and windy and this morning I didn't see it or hear it, so...I'm just expecting to see it at the back door any time now.

I hope I didn't offend those of you who have loving dogs as pets.  Forgive me?

Charlotte

First Monday of November

We got baby chickens for two houses early this morning; the other two houses will come tomorrow morning.  I was glad there were only two houses to dump because my breakfast was gone and I was getting tired by the time we were finished.  We usually keep the chickens about fifty days which will make these be that age on Christmas.  Someone else may have to fix Christmas dinner this year.

Remember those low-hanging limbs?  The results ~ a wonderful crop of nice pecans!  I haven't even bothered to try to scare away the crows and the squirrel; there seemed to be plenty to share, although the nuts in the tops of the trees must be gone because the crows were scouring the ground this morning.  I've also shared with friends.  Now ~ if I can get the farmer to help me pick out the nuts inside these shells...

Charlotte

November Apron

The apron(s) for November comes as a mother-daughter pack.  Get ready for help cooking the holiday meals by encouraging a little one to cook with you.

One of my sisters-in-law makes fabric gift bags each Christmas and I repurposed my bag into aprons using the printed fabric.  

Although aprons made like this are usually considered clothespin bags, the big pocket would be great for holding a potholder or the end of a kitchen towel.  I've used this pattern, Simplicity #E2079, several times.  It takes very little fabric and the bias tape binding is the most costly thing about making it, unless you can make your own tape, which I do.

Looking for a simple gift to make for Christmas?  Why not surprise a little granddaughter with her very own apron?

Charlotte

Learning From the Impolite

While dusting the bookcase, I ran across this little book:

The inside front page calls it, "A manual of manners for polite infants inculcating (?)many juvenile virtues both by precept and example." My girls were introduced to the Goops through the Better Homes and Gardens Story Book about forty years ago. Later I ordered the book about the Goops from Dover Publications; I'm not sure too many of the grand kids ever read it. There are forty three subjects listed in the table of contents. These are a few of my favorites:

I think many adults fall into this category too:

Have we failed to teach our children proper manners?

"Let me introduce you to a Race

Void of Beauty and of Grace...

Yet you'll learn, if you are Bright,

Politeness from the Impolite..."

Honor thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Matt. 19:19

Preparing for Winter -- 2

There was frost the next morning and the acrid smell of frozen grass filled the air. Smoke from the stovepipe curled only a little before being carried away to the holler by the strong north wind. By mid-morning the sun began warming things and Mama said, "Let's stomp peas today, Charlotte!" She took her feed sack full of dry peas out into the yard. Charlotte jumped onto the burlap bag. "This is one thing you can jump on to your heart's content," said Mama. "Pretend you're jumping on the bed!" She jumped and jumped. Mama turned the sack and they both stomped, and the dry pods broke into pieces, releasing the peas. Charlotte giggled and fell off. Mama set the sack upright and untied the end.
She picked up the sack and held the opened end high above her empty dishpan. The dry peas fell into the pan and the wind blew the broken pieces of hulls away. Then she poured the peas from the dishpan into an empty bucket. Zing! Zing, zing! The peas sounded like hailstones on a tin roof as they hit the metal bucket. She poured them back and forth, and each time bits of hulls and trash blew out until the peas were clean.

Now Mama took the clean peas to the kitchen. She filled a jar with some of them and added a few moth balls. "These peas are to plant next year," she said, "and the mothballs will keep weevils out of them." She poured boiling water over the rest of the peas and let them sit for a few minutes. "I scalded these peas to kill any weevils that might be in them now; they're the ones I'll cook this winter. The seed peas can't be scalded because the hot water would kill the little plant that is waiting inside the pea," explained Mama. She spread the scalded peas out on a clean cloth and let them dry in the sun and wind for a few days before storing them away for winter meals.

Charlotte

If you're fairly new to my blog you might enjoy reading more about our farm life in the 1940s.  The stories are under the label, Family.  If there are two parts to a story, the first part will be preceded by the second; keep this in mind to keep from knowing the end of the story first :)