Six Word Saturday…Looking Back

My six words today: This is a weekend of nostalgia.

young newlyweds…in the forties

They got married…67 years ago today.

 I still remember looking at this picture of my parents when I was a child.  I still remember asking “Who is this?”  When mama told me it was her and daddy, I couldn’t believe it!  I could see some resemblance of daddy, but I never could see any resemblance of my mama, to that woman in the photo!  This photo intrigued me way back then, and it still intrigues me today. 

Many years have passed since those childhood days.  Daddy passed away in 1991, not long after reaching his 65th  birthday.  Mama passed away six years later, two months, and a week,  after her 70th birthday.  The stories of both of their deaths are extraordinary, but those are posts for another day. 

My mama passed away on July 31, 1997, the day after what would have been her and daddy’s 53rd wedding anniversary…they had been married 47 years, when the Lord took daddy home.  Mama had no idea what day it was when she passed, but I knew.

my parents...in the late 70's

 Here’s a photo of my parents, taken probably around 1979 or possibly 1980.  They had become grandparents twice by the time this photo was taken–once by my brother, once by me.  I remember mama saying they wanted to have their photograph made, so their grandchildren could have a photo of them.  I’m so glad they did.  Little did they know when the photograph was taken, that they would become grandparents two more times!

These days, when I look at that old picture of daddy, I can see bits and pieces of him in my own sons, as well as seeing a bit of his personality shining through in their daily lives.  My daughter resembles my mother, and has many of her personality traits, as well.  In a small way, it’s comforting to think that a part of mama and daddy are still with us.

 Thanks to Cate for hosting SWS each week at http://www.showmyface.com

 

 

Fun Friday Photos…Life In and Around Gooseneck

I have a collection of well-over thirteen thousand photographs on my computer.  Nestled among those wonderful photos of my family, are lots of oddities.  I’m notorious for never deleting any photos!   My mind is totally blank today, as far as writing, so permit me to share a few “fun photos” on this Friday.

Nothing like using a rock for your pillow!  This is a crazy cat, who does crazy things–and I have pictures to prove it!  We have some “odd” pets around Gooseneck, as you will soon see…

Woah!  That’s one big statue of a rooster!  Now, I ask you, wouldn’t you love to have him standing in your front yard?  Bigger is better in Gooseneck!

Some statues so “life-like” these days, they almost look real…Oh, wait!  Part of this fountain statue is real!

Somebody’s not going to be very happy when they look for their flip flops…Never leave the door open to the bathroom, when there’s a toddler in the house!

Speaking of toddlers…I’ll bet he’s wondering who turned out the lights!!!  Perhaps he’s trying to make a “fashion statement”!

How does a set of twins clean themselves up after polishing off a hot-fudge sundae?  Why they wash off in the bird bath, of course!

Sometimes we grow some strange things here in Gooseneck!  Just check out our tomatoes!  And just how does one slice a Gooseneck tomato???

And while I know your mind is probably “in the gutter” after seeing our tomatoes, check out the mushrooms that grow in our yard!!!

See, I told you we have some strange pets around here!  Yes, those are baby opossums–and no, I wasn’t especially thrilled about holding them–but I did, just long enough for a photograph!

That’s about it for today.  I hope you enjoyed a change of pace, and viewing a few of my fun photos!  Have a wonderful weekend everyone! 

Thursday’s Thoughts…Holy Matrimony!!!

Our favorite newlyweds, Brad and Jennifer, came over to watch “Big Brother” with us last night.  As Ed and I sat  there listening to them talk–about “her hogging the bed” and “him turning the thermostat up and down“– it brought back early marriage memories of long ago, and got me to thinking about all of the adjustments of marriage!

Brad and Jennifer were discussing the problems of two people sleeping on a double bed.  I could totally relate!  It doesn’t take the “honeymoon” long to be over when it comes to sleeping arrangements.  When one person is used to having the entire bed, it’s an adjustment to learn to share–especially on a double bed!  It certainly didn’t take us long before we upgraded to a queen sized bed!

For the woman, there was the “ordeal” of giving up her maiden name, and having to get everything changed over to her new married name!  Add to that the problem of remembering the new last name!  It’s hard to break the old habit of writing that “maiden” name. (Just the other day, I wrote my daughter’s maiden name –and she’s been married for 10 years!)  Old habits die hard!

Then there’s the joy of finding your way around the kitchen!  Jennifer has been trying some new recipes, while practicing others.  Sometimes she will ask me how to cook something.  It’s hard for me to “tell” somebody how to cook something.  I cook without measuring or thinking, because over the years, it’s become an automatic function.  Of course, I still remember the days when it wasn’t–and we ate a lot of “less than perfect” meals, and Ed probably had a bottle of  Tums hidden away somewhere!

Of course, there is always the problem of figuring out how to handle the finances after marriage!  When Ed and I got married, I didn’t have a job, so there wasn’t any discussion about that–I didn’t have any money!  We opened a joint checking account, and the money that he earned was “our money”.  Ed paid the bills,  and kept the checkbook balanced. 

I couldn’t even write a check in the early years of our marriage because I didn’t have a driver’s license or any form of identification!  As time passed, I began working, got an identification badge, began writing checks, and eventually took over the duties of paying bills and balancing the checkbook.  I’m still doing it, after all these years.  It’s a job I’d happily relenquish. 

Sometimes, another marriage adjustment is   “sharing your space” with someone.  Ed and I didn’t have this particular issue, but it was an early issue with my daughter and her husband!   Our daughter owned her own place when she met her husband.  She had her home decorated in pretty “girly” things–like a canopy bed, and a pretty floral couch. 

Her husband is a “manly man”, he likes wrestling, John Deere tractors, trucks, and guns!  Brandy didn’t like “clutter”, so she didn’t have much in her house.  Clint loves “stuff” and brought a pile of it with him when he moved it!  As you can imagine,  the two of them had more than a few adjustments to make during the first year of marriage.  

Speaking of “space”, I remember one of mine and Ed’s first marital issues was about having “pets”.  I love cats!  Ed likes cats okay–as long as they are outside.  In the early days of our marriage, I was lonely, and I wanted a kitten to keep me company while Ed was at work.  We argued back and forth, and eventually I got my kitten, which turned out to be an inside/outside cat.  We’ve had many inside/outside cats over the years.  I’m happiest when they are inside, while Ed is happiest when they are outside!

Speaking of pets, I’ve had a laugh or two with Brad and Jennifer concerning their pets!  He had several cats, and she had “Nubie”, the dog, before they got married.  She likes dogs, while he prefers cats.  At first, the dog wouldn’t obey Brad, and “peed” on him every time he yelled at her.  Then, “Trouble”, the cat, actually bit Jennifer–and “pooped” on a pair of her pajama pants!  Trouble was the only female in Brad’s life for a while…perhaps she’s a bit jealous 🙂  Oh the joys of holy matrimony!

Wednesday Hodgepodge…July 27

It’s Wednesday again.  Wow, I just noticed that it said “Vol. 37” at the top of Joyce’s post.  Have we really been doing this for 37 Wednesdays?!  Where does the time go?  Joyce, you continue to amaze me with your outstanding questions!   You are a great hostess!

1. July is National Ice Cream month…your favorite flavor? Soft served, hand dipped, or frozen yogurt…which do you prefer? And technically yogurt is not ice cream but its hot outside so I’ll let that slide for today.  

Even though there are lots of flavors to choose from these days, good old-fashioned, hand dipped, chocolate is still a favorite of mine!   If  I’m eating soft served ice cream, I love it in the form of  a hot fudge sundae! 

2. When you travel do you tend to pack too much or too little? I usually pack a little bit more than I need, but not much!  These days I’ve learned to travel light–less to pack and unpack!

3. What’s your favorite cleaning product? Actually, I have two favorites.  The first is old-fashioned sudsy ammonia.  If you can get past the smell, which is hard to do,  it cleans better than anything else in the world!  The other cleaning product that I use the most often is “Mean Green”.  I use it in the kitchen and bathroom almost daily.

4. Which is the greater tragedy-an innocent person imprisoned or a guilty person set free? Explain.   I think it would be a greater tragedy to imprison an innocent person, because there’s no way to “make it right” in the end.  On the other hand, if a guilty person gets set free,  I believe they will get their punishment–sooner or later, in this life or the next.  Justice will be done.  I keep telling myself that about Casey Anthony, anyway.

5. What’s the longest trip you’ve taken by car? A seven hour ride to Walt Disney World in Orlando.  That’s about as far as I plan to ride!  I hate traveling.

6. tennis-golf-canoeing-biking…pick one.  Biking is the only one that appeals to me!  I still enjoy riding my bicycle to the mailbox and back!

7. What sound drives you crazy?  The sound of someone snoring when I’m trying to sleep!   It’s very frustrating.  My hubby and I recently spent the weekend at the beach.  I can only sum up this trip as a “snore fest”!  Both nights,  my hubby snored like you would not believe!  I had to play a small radio next to my ear to get any sleep at all–and hubby and I were even sleeping in twin beds!  He claims that I snored, too, but I assured him that it must have been in the wee hours of the morning when I passed out from exhaustion after laying there listening to him snore all night!!!

Random:  Brad and Jennifer celebrated their one month wedding anniversary on Monday of this week.  In honor of the occasion, I’m sharing the Jib Jab video that I made for them, and played at their wedding rehearsal dinner.

 

Dreamin’ About A Sunny Beach…On A Rainy Tuesday

Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from my sister-in-law, asking me where were the beach photos on my blog!  She said that she was in need of “a beach fix”!  This from a sister-in-law who lives in sunny Florida–land of beautiful beaches!  Then, I woke up this morning to the sound of rain on the roof.  It’s a dreary day outside, so I’m in the mood to share some “sunny memories” of our recent beach trip. 

These pictures are for you, Kay, and I have a few words for my brother, too…”take your wife to the beach!”  🙂

This photo was taken our first afternoon on the beach.  I like to think of it as “Two men and a little lady“.  These men (her dad and her “E-pa”) have made sand castles with Madison every summer for the past four years of her life.  Sweet memories in the making…

Meanwhile, during the castle-making,  I was sitting in my favorite spot on the beach–in front of the “Sandy Bottoms” beach bar and grill listening to Friday night’s band.  It was a jazz band on Friday night.  Not my favorite type of music, but, still, they were sounding pretty good. 

I enjoyed Saturday evening on the beach much better, listening to the sounds of different band who played what seemed like everything under the sun!  They played and sang a little “Patsy Cline”,  “Otis Redding”, “Sly and the Family Stone”, “The Eagles”, “Linda Ronstadt”, “Wilson Pickett”, and even “Rod Stewart”, just to name a few!  Later in the evening, some people were even dancing in the sand on the beach–and our granddaughter was one of them!

Ed and I are “early birds”, so every morning we get up early to enjoy some beachtime.  We ate breakfast on the beach both mornings!  It’s so peaceful and quiet out there, before the sun comes out and the crowds arrive!  It’s probably the best time of the day.

It sort of makes us feel guilty as we sit and eat our sausage, eggs, or pancakes– while watching the locals do their morning exercise routines on the beach.  The girl jogging in the photo, had the most unusual running style I’ve ever seen.  She sprang up off the sand using her toes, with each step that she took.  I’m sorry, but I just can’t “spring” at seven o’clock in the morning…

I really love watching the birds fly over the ocean–especially the pelicans.  I was lucky enough to snap this picture as a group of them flew over.  We also saw a couple of dolphins swimming in the surf in front of us, but I wasn’t lucky enough to get a picture of them.

Ed and I must look like “animal lovers” because every time we go to the beach, we attract a group of seagulls.  Usually they just stand close to our chairs and look at us with their “hungry eyes”. 

On our last trip, I actually bought a bag of animal crackers to share with the birds every day.  They ate the crackers, but didn’t seem overly impressed.  I noticed that the birds soon learned to dip their cracker in the ocean to soften it,  then they could swallow it!  Smart birds, huh?

On our final morning at the beach, we made a new friend when Ed spotted this little fellow next to his chair.  We enjoyed playing peek-a-boo with him, while trying to take his picture.  He was a pretty good-sized sand crab, but he could move in and out of that hole in a flash!  We had a hard time seeing him in the screen of the camera since he blended in so well with the sand…

Looking at these photos is already making me want to take another beach trip!  These days it’s my favorite place to be.  I feel blessed that we only live a couple of hours away. 

Guess what?!  I’m celebrating a birthday at the end of next month, and guess where I want to go to celebrate?!  I’ve already reserved a hotel room–on the beach!  If I’ve gotta’ grow another year older, at least I can celebrate it in a fun way, right?

 

I’m riding the Tuesday Train today.  If you’d like to ride along, all you have to do is click the train to find out how!

Mindless Monday…

our solar powered dryer

It’s Monday…after three days of being gone and having a grand ole’ time at the beach.  The suitcases are still packed, I have a mountain of dirty laundry to do, and I am bone weary tired…Hence, the title, “Mindless Monday”.  Just a few random thoughts, because I don’t have time or energy to write anything with much substance!

We had a great time on our trip.  We enjoyed sharing a condo with our daughter and her family, and we are thankful that they invited us to tag along and share their vacation.  As always, we had fun together.  I think I’ll save my fun tales of our adventures for another day, when I have more energy.

I’m washing clothes while I blog–actually the washer is washing clothes while I blog… I’ll be trying out my “solar-powered dryer” again in a few minutes.  I was advised of this new name for the clothesline by my blog friend, Lynne Marie, from Life Through Bifocals.    

Speaking of Lynne Marie, I just love the title of her blog!  Most of us over age forty tend to view life through our bifocals!   In fact, sometimes, if the print on a label is really small, hubby and I will resort to looking through TWO PAIRS of bifocals!  I used to laugh whenever I saw Ed put on two pairs of glasses, but this past year I’ve tried it myself–and it works great!  Never say never!

Since I’ve been using my new “sola dryer”, I’ve been reminded of a few things that I’d forgotten.  Like–it takes a lot more effort than using the regular dryer!  I used to complain about having to bend down to take ONE load of clothes out of the dryer…until I realized that I have to bend down A BUNCH OF TIMES whenever I hang out a load of clothes!  It’s like doing “touch your toes” exercises!  We are a spoiled generation, I tell you!   Thank heavens I don’t have the old wringer-type washing machine, too! 

I guess I’ll have to get back into the kitchen today, and cook a meal.  I have NOT missed cooking one bit.  In fact, I stayed FAR  AWAY from the kitchen while we were on our little vacation.  I used to enjoy finding my way around someone else’s kitchen, but that thrill has long passed!  Cooking is still cooking–no matter whose kitchen it’s in!  Again, thank goodness I don’t live in the day when women had to cook on a wood stove–in ninety-five degree heat–with no air conditioning!

That’s going to be it for my tired mind today.  I’ll be visiting everyone’s blogs the rest of the day, and catching up with what’s going on in blog land.  Have a great Monday…I’ll be back tomorrow, rested and ready to write!

Sharing My Goodies…

Recently,  I received an award from my blog friend Kathy at Just Stuff From a Boomer.  I’ve always enjoy reading Kathy’s blog, and I love reading her comments on my blog, as well.  We share a lot of nostalgia between the two of  us!  Here’s the award that Kathy gave me:

 

A few rules go along with the award, so I’m supposed to tell seven random things about myself, then pass the award on to five bloggers.  Here are my seven random things:

1.  I am always starting projects, then never finishing them.  I tend to get side-tracked easily.  My house is cluttered with “unfinished projects”–embroidery, crochet, scrapbooking…you name it, I have an unfinished project concerning it.  I always have the best intentions when I start, though.

2.  I do not enjoy cooking anymore.  I cooked for years, and never minded it.  These days, I hate it–even baking seems like a chore to me.

3.  I love dolls, and have an extensive collection of Barbie and friends, Ashton-Drake babies, Cabbage Patch Kids,  and Chatty Cathys.  I also have a few porcelin dolls.  My bedroom is sort of crowded.  Many eyes are looking at me…

these are some of my older Barbie dolls, but not all

4.  I used to bake and sell  “character” birthday cakes–like Big Bird, Mickey Mouse, and Donald Duck.  I also made and sold rag dolls and soft sculpture dolls.  I was a stay-at-home mom, and thats how I made my spending money. 

5.  I love the beach, and wish I could afford a condo there.  If I ever won the lottery, that’s what I’d buy!  I don’t gamble, so fat chance of that ever happening!

6.  I’m terrible at growing houseplants.  I do not have a “green thumb”.  Once I had over twenty different varieties of houseplants (at one time)…and they all died.  Sad but true. 

7.  At one point in my life, about five years ago, I gave a home to  5 dogs, 19 cats, 2 rabbits, a hamster, a parakeet, and two hermit crabs!   I tried to “rescue” every living creature that I came into contact with, and my pet food bill was ridiculous!  Time marches on, and some pets have passed away.  These days we “only” have 2 dogs, 14 cats, 2 rabbits, and the parakeet!  The pet food bill is still ridiculous.

Here are some questions that Kathy added to the end of her post, just for fun:

Do you always sleep on the same side of the bed?  No.  I sleep alone most of time (snoring issues keep us apart), so I rotate from side to side of the bed.

Can the food on your plate touch?  My food can touch, but I’m happier if it doesn’t!  I remember my father-in-law used dip his food into a pile in the center of his plate, and mixed it together– that really bothered me!

Do you shut the bathroom door even when no one is home?  No, and sometimes I don’t shut the door when somebody else is at home.  I sure don’t have any secrets from Ed after nearly 40 years…Trust me, he’s seen it all!

Now for the difficult part…Passing this award on to five fellow bloggers.  I’m going to pass the award on to my two newest blog friends,

Daily Drama With The Dashers

You Never Know With Cindy

My new friends haven’t been blogging very long.  In fact, this may be their first award!    I’m also passing this award on to anybody who stops by my blog today!  Blog friends, if you visit my blog today–then this award is for you!  I appreciate your visits, and would be thrilled if you accept this award, then share it with others.

Have a great weekend!  Forgive me if I’m slack in visiting your blogs for a couple of days.  I’m taking some summer funtime!  I’ll catch up next week! 

Denise and Jennifer

One last thing before I go…exactly one year ago today, our new daughter-in-law, Jennifer’s,  mom passed away.  You may recall that we were getting ready for a  familytrip to the mountains that morning.  That awful morning is forever engrained in all of our memories.   If you could, would you please join me in saying a prayer for Denise’s family today, especially for Jennifer who continues to miss her mom very much.

Fun Times…

In honor of another upcoming trip to the beach, I thought I’d touch on a few funny and memorable moments of mine and Ed’s last trip there.  Like this first “misfire” of the camera when we were trying to get a shot of ourselves using the camera timer…

Oops! Bad timing...

 Here’s another shot of us eating our little picnic lunch beside the playground, which happens to be located beside a little saltwater creek.  We were the only ones there for a while, and it was peaceful.  Sitting there brought back many happy memories of days gone by…Times when we used to have picnics beside playgrounds with our children while they were growing up–and it was not so quiet or peaceful.  Eating with three children, especially outside, is never peaceful, but it’s fun!

Just the two of us now...

 One thing I’ve learned over the years of spending time around the beach area–the birds are BOLD!  They are not shy when it comes to sharing your food!   They will rip it right out of your hand if given a chance!   Just look what happened when we left our lunch unattended for five minutes!  There wasn’t any food in the bag, but the thief managed to pull himself out a paper cup!  I guess he was thirsty.

He invited himself to lunch!

 We had a little time to kill before we were able to get into our hotel room, so we decided to check out historic downtown Fernandina.  We’ve been there several times before, but we love it, so it never gets old.  We took some pictures of the waterfront.

Man, that sun was bright...

We looked around in some of the little gift shops for a while, but soon we were hot and tired.  Apparently, so were a lot of other visitors.  The most popular shop in the entire historical area was the candy shop, which also sold four dollar ice cream cones!  Of course, we had to have one anyway…but at least I passed up the Fernandina Fudge!

Love those waffle cones...

Shortly after finishing those tasty ice cream cones, we looked around a little bit more, then headed back toward the beach to check into our hotel room.  Before long, we checked in, had supper, then spent the rest of the evening sitting in our chairs on the beach, listening to a wonderful band playing “oldies” at “The Sandy Bottoms Beach Bar and Grill”! 

Sandy Bottoms...

Speaking of “The Sandy Bottoms”, that’s where Ed and I ate dinner for our 39th anniversary!  We’d never eaten in an open, seaside restaurant before, so we tried it.  The food was very good–seafood, of course, and that particular evening they had a reggae band providing music.  We didn’t totally break our tradition of eating at KFC for our anniversary–we went there for lunch!

Wednesday Hodgepodge…July 20

It’s time to join Joyce for my weekly dose of fun with her “Hodgepodge”.  Here are this week’s questions:

1. July 20th marks the anniversary of the first time man stood on the moon. Flash forward 42 years to July 8, 2011 which marked the start of the final Space Shuttle mission. Should we continue to explore space?  If our country’s economy wasn’t in such bad shape, I would gladly say “yes”, but given our current situation I’ll have to shout a hearty “No”.  Let’s pay our national debt, then we can talk about everything else!

Should nations devote more or fewer of their resources to exploring space?  If a nation has the resources, then, yes,  I think they should continue to explore space and learn new things.

Would you want to go into space if the opportunity arose?  I’m afraid of heights, and confined spaces, so what do you think?!

2. What are three things in your freezer?  I have a lot more than three things in my freezer(s,) but the most important things to me are : my stash of shelled, frozen pecans, my freshly cannned quarts of sliced, frozen peaches, and my freshly canned quarts of  stewed tomatoes.

3. If you could see any band/artist perform live tonite who would it be? It has to be someone living…no Beatles, Elvis, etc.  Creedence Clearwater Revival!  Their music takes me back to the seventies every time I hear it!  Love them or hate them, nobody else has ever come close to their unique sound!  (I hope it doesn’t  matter that one member of the band has passed away)

4. Ice-cubed or crushed? Or are you one of those people who don’t like ice?  I love crushed ice!  My favorite crushed ice is the softer, chewy kind!!!  We used to have a crushed ice dispenser, but our new fridge doesn’t have this feature, so I’m stuck with regular ice!

5. The owner of a small restaurant outside of Pittsburgh recently announced he was banning children under six, saying they regularly disrupted other customer’s meals. You can read the story in more detail here but isn’t this a perfect topic to discuss in our Wednesday Hodgepodge? Have at it friends…what are your thoughts?  I think it’s a dirty rotten shame that some parents with “unruly children” have ruined dining in the restaurant for everyone with children!  There are still some civilized parents and children out there.    Unfortunately, having been in restaurants with some of those “unruly children” myself, I totally understand and respect the restaurant owner’s decision!  Have you been out in public around some children lately?  It’s a jungle out there…

6. What was your first car? How did it come to be yours?  I didn’t have a car before I got married–because I didn’t have a driver’s license!  It was eight years into our marriage before I got my driver’s license and “my first car”–a silver 1977 Mercury Monarch.  My husband bought the car for me first, then I got my license–a week later!

7. If I had a nickel for every time I __went to the bathroom__ I’d be rich.  (Sad, but true!)

Random:  I received two special surprises this past weekend!  My friend, Cindy, and my daughter, Brandy, both decided to start blogs!  Both ladies have been long-time readers of my blogs, so I’m now thrilled to be able to read their blogs as well!  If you have a moment, click on their names, and check out their blogs! It will make their day!

Thanks, Joyce, for another fun Wednesday Hodgepodge!  Today I’ll leave you with one of my favorite songs…from one of my all-time favorite groups.

The Tale Of Two Kitchens…

I’ve been scanning old photos for the past several days.  In the process, I’ve been taking a long walk down “memory lane”. The picture below was taken of mine and Ed’s parents together, on Christmas Day, 1981.  That’s their granddaughter (and mine and Ed’s daughter, Brandy) standing in front of them.

Ed's parents on left, mine on the right

It wasn’t uncommon for mine and Ed’s parents  to spend holidays together.  My parents usually celebrated most holidays early, because my brother and his family lived out-of-state.  So my parents usually spent the actual holiday at Ed’s parents’ house with all of us.  It was wonderful how our parents always got along so well.

These photos were taken in the new kitchen that Ed’s dad had recently built onto the back of their home.  See that brick wall in the background?  It used to be the back outside wall of their house!

Their original kitchen was small, and after adding new kitchen cabinets on the back wall, Ed’s parents discovered they needed more room to  dine–desperately!  Their family was growing– in the form of daughter-in-laws and grandchildren!  There simply wasn’t enough room to eat in the kitchen anymore.

Ed’s dad was a retired carpenter at the time, so he got out his hammer and saw, then added a new, larger kitchen to the back of the house!  I love a “do it yourself” kind of guy!  He was proud of his handiwork, and we soon put the new kitchen to good use.

After the kitchen was finished, Ed’s parents bought two large folding tables and placed them together.  It made a very large dining table, and we all had a place to sit–for a while.  Back in those days, we still put the food on the table, “family style”.  We almost needed some “pot passers”  like the Clampets used on the television show, “The Beverly Hillbillies”!

cousins setting the table for MeMa

Eventually, we outgrew this table, too, and at that time, the grandchildren began eating in the “old kitchen” while the adults ate in the “new kitchen”.  Of course, the children loved having a kitchen to themselves!

Those folding tables are long gone now, as are all the chairs.  We haven’t had a large family dinner in the old house since 2004.  My parents died first, both during the nineties, followed several years later by Ed’s daddy in 2002.

These days, Ed’s mama spends most holidays with us, but occasionally she visits one of her other sons.  Last year she chose to spend Christmas at the personal care home where she currently resides.  I didn’t blame her, cause I was overing a nasty case of the flu!

For the moment, our son, Brad, and his new wife, Jennifer, are  staying in the old family house.  (You may recall that Brad lived with his grandmother prior to her health issues.)  The house still has those two complete kitchens, but Brad and Jennifer use the original small kitchen.  It’s just right for two of them.

I find it interesting how the old house has come full circle.  Over sixty years ago, it began with a family of two…hosted a family of eighteen at its last dinner in 2004…and now has dwindled back down to a family of two again.  I don’t know what the future will hold for the old family house, but that house sure holds a lot of sweet memories for me–two kitchens and all!