Hello Neighbor. Glad you stopped by.
Whenever the subject of not having much money or income came up, Dad always said", We are not dirt poor, just hard up." And I guess that was the truth. We lived off the produce of the farm and Dad would cut trees for the pulp mill and that was a little extra. Dad had his own dance band and Mom would play the piano. So there was a little there on weekends or special events. But when you received only $10.00 each for a long evening of playing, it wasn't really much.
So you can understand why doctors and medicine and medical needs was not a priority on our list. I know that we had the usual childhood things. I don't remember, of course, having whooping cough when I was quite small. My Mother would tell me about taking me outdoors and hanging me upside down and patting (pounding?) me on the back to help me when coughing.
One day my Grandmother was washing the clothes there in the old farm house. She had finished a load of clothes and went out to hang them on the clothes line. Again , I don't think I really remember this, but I sure can imagine it. Gram had one of those old washers with the wringers for squeezing the water out of the clothes. I don't know if Gram had left the wringers going or forgot to stop them. Maybe I just knew what to do to start them. Anyway, I climbed up on a chair and I stuck my fingers in the rollers and you know that once those rollers start nothing much will stop them. If a big wad of clothes went through they could stop it. But my skinny little arms with the soft bones was not enough to stop. I suppose I hollered like the dickens and someone must have come running. As I said, I don't really remember any of this. My Mom said she sat in the rocking chair holding me and just rubbing my arm from the top down. Just a rubbing and rubbing. I guess she hoped it would help some of the flesh to push down. As I got older and my arm filled out more, there was a place on the inside of my left arm where the flesh would puff out. I guess some of the cords in the arm must have been damaged and so there was a space there and the skin could pop out. When I was an adult and was working with children they always wanted to see my "muscle". Well, I guess that was probably the most scariest.
I had the usual chicken pox, measles and I'm not sure about the mumps. After I started Kindergarten I began having sore throats. This time I guess my folks thought we should see the doctor. Also perhaps we were a little less hard up as we were in the beginning. I don't remember. All I know is one day I was off to see the doctor. At the doctor's office the doctor confirmed that my tonsils were quite bad. He set me upon a counter, went to get something as he said, "Those tonsils need to come right out." I thought he was going to do it right then. Anyway, I did get them taken out and that was that.
One day at school, the bus came to pick us all up and take us to the school in the main part of town. We were told we were going there to have a shot for something. Now I am not particularly excited about this. And you know how boys are. They put on a big show of how much it hurt and I still was waiting for my turn. I sure wished I was first. When my turn came around I sure gave those nurses a hard time. I squirmed so much I ended up on the floor and being held. It didn't stop them from giving me that shot. And to this day I get a little panic when a doctor tells me I need a shot. But I must say that things have changed and shots aren't as bad as they used to be.
My father went to the doctor one night on the way to a dance. He had a case of sore tonsils. He stopped at the old doctor that everyone knew. The doctor gave him a few pills and told Dad to take these. I don't think the doctor meant to take them all at once, but that's what Dad did. The doctor told him he didn't know what would happen, but Dad was OK and I don't think he had a sore throat again. When my Dad died in 1999, my mother had to call the local police because there really was no doctor to call since he never went but that once.
Well it amazes me that we survived the farm without any real troubles. Mary and I used to go all over those acres climbing trees, hiding in places and who knows what else. I never thought we were hard up. We had everything we needed and a whole world to play in.
Monday, March 28, 2016
Monday, March 21, 2016
LOOKING FOR MAYFLOWERS
Hello Neighbor. Glad you stopped by.
Well winter has come and gone and the weather is warming up. The deep snow is disappearing and soon will be gone and we will be able to go walking in the woods again.
Every spring after the snow has melted, my Dad would start taking walks in the woods. He is looking for the places where the Mayflowers grow. They are scarce and one has to search and search in special places to find the tiny little flowers. They grow close to the ground and are had to find. Dad would keep going out to look to see if he can find a few little blossoms to make a small bouquet to bring home for my Mom. This is something that I remember him doing every spring. Mayflowers have a beautiful delicate smell. They always were a special treat, not just because they were so scarce, but because it took time to search and search for the areas where they would grow. You would have to remember the places from year to year so you would know where to look the next spring.
There were other special flowers that I remember my sister, Mary, and I used to go looking for. Another flower that was really a special treat to come upon was a Lady Slipper. We didn't usually find them very often but it was a real treat when we did. Another unusual flower that we might come across was called a "jack-in-the -pulpit". It was a green plant that had an unusual shape to its flower. There would be a little cap that lifted up and inside was a brown stem. I guess it made one think of a preacher standing at his pulpit. I guess that is how it got its name. There was another flower Mary and I used to find in the woods down behind our house. We would climb under a wire and just have a great time roaming around, looking to see what we could find. There was a small brook that wound its way through the woods until it reached the highway and passed under the bridge and into Berry's Pond. I think these flowers were called "sweet trillium". Most of the time the ones we found had three purple leaves and had a bad smell. We called them "stinking Benjamin's". If we were lucky we would find some with white leaves. These were pretty and didn't have much aroma not like the purple ones.
One of my favorites were the checker berries. These small plants grew in certain places like the Mayflowers and we had to search for them. After they blossomed, little tiny berries came out and we would eat them. I think that the flower catalogs called them wintergreen. When the new little leaves would appear we would chew them. So many neat things we found in our woods. What lucky kids we were to have so many acres for our playground.
Mom had her favorite too. She loved looking for the field strawberries and she would pick and pick until she had enough for all of us to enjoy. There were just certain fields and places they like to grow so it was quite a lot of work to find enough to make a dessert. So the farm supplied us with many different things.
Stop by again sometime and we will have another chat.
Well winter has come and gone and the weather is warming up. The deep snow is disappearing and soon will be gone and we will be able to go walking in the woods again.
Every spring after the snow has melted, my Dad would start taking walks in the woods. He is looking for the places where the Mayflowers grow. They are scarce and one has to search and search in special places to find the tiny little flowers. They grow close to the ground and are had to find. Dad would keep going out to look to see if he can find a few little blossoms to make a small bouquet to bring home for my Mom. This is something that I remember him doing every spring. Mayflowers have a beautiful delicate smell. They always were a special treat, not just because they were so scarce, but because it took time to search and search for the areas where they would grow. You would have to remember the places from year to year so you would know where to look the next spring.
There were other special flowers that I remember my sister, Mary, and I used to go looking for. Another flower that was really a special treat to come upon was a Lady Slipper. We didn't usually find them very often but it was a real treat when we did. Another unusual flower that we might come across was called a "jack-in-the -pulpit". It was a green plant that had an unusual shape to its flower. There would be a little cap that lifted up and inside was a brown stem. I guess it made one think of a preacher standing at his pulpit. I guess that is how it got its name. There was another flower Mary and I used to find in the woods down behind our house. We would climb under a wire and just have a great time roaming around, looking to see what we could find. There was a small brook that wound its way through the woods until it reached the highway and passed under the bridge and into Berry's Pond. I think these flowers were called "sweet trillium". Most of the time the ones we found had three purple leaves and had a bad smell. We called them "stinking Benjamin's". If we were lucky we would find some with white leaves. These were pretty and didn't have much aroma not like the purple ones.
One of my favorites were the checker berries. These small plants grew in certain places like the Mayflowers and we had to search for them. After they blossomed, little tiny berries came out and we would eat them. I think that the flower catalogs called them wintergreen. When the new little leaves would appear we would chew them. So many neat things we found in our woods. What lucky kids we were to have so many acres for our playground.
Mom had her favorite too. She loved looking for the field strawberries and she would pick and pick until she had enough for all of us to enjoy. There were just certain fields and places they like to grow so it was quite a lot of work to find enough to make a dessert. So the farm supplied us with many different things.
Stop by again sometime and we will have another chat.
Monday, March 14, 2016
WINTER WOOD
Hello, Neighbor. Glad you stopped by.
Well let's see. We've got the hay all cut and stored away in the barn loft and bay. Now it's time to think about winter coming and keeping the house warm. So that means cutting a lot of wood to last through the cold weather.
When I was a little girl growing bigger, cutting wood was before the chainsaw time. Trees had to be cut early so they could dry out before getting them ready for the stove and furnace. Dad would have to chop them down with an axe or cross cut saw. Once the tree was down the branches would need to be removed. When I was big enough I would help him the best I could. The cross cut saw was a little tricky. It was a long saw about 6 feet long or so with a handle on each end. Dad would take a hold of one handle and I would take a hold of the other. We needed to cut the tree into four ft. lengths so he could haul them out to the big building by the side of the barn and pile them in a long row to dry.
The tricky part of a cross cut saw is not to let it buckle. Dad would pull his handle across the log and I was supposed to pull it back, being careful not to let it buckle in the process. If I did I might hear a few words from Dad. It takes a while to get the hang of it so that you can keep the saw moving down through the log.
When the logs were dry enough for cutting into stove lengths, Dad would start up the old one lunger engine that we kept in the long building. It was a noisy thing and every once in a while it would make a loud noise. But you do what you gotta do. Dad would put the four ft. log on a table that was made so it could be pushed back enough to allow the log to meet the saw that was spinning like crazy from the engine that made a belt turn the saw. My job was to take a hold of the short end that would be cut off the long log and throw it onto a pile.
When the wood was cut into stove lengths the next step was to throw it onto the wagon and take it down to the house to be thrown through the cellar window where it would be either stacked in rows or tossed into a pile. Also that was where the large pieces would be split with an axe to make them easier to handle. Then the wood would have to be carried up the stairs and put into a wood box by the kitchen stove for Mom to use to heat up the stove for cooking.
It was a long haul to get just one tree to the place of being useful for heating and cooking. But that's the way it was. Another necessary task to living on a farm.
Well let's see. We've got the hay all cut and stored away in the barn loft and bay. Now it's time to think about winter coming and keeping the house warm. So that means cutting a lot of wood to last through the cold weather.
When I was a little girl growing bigger, cutting wood was before the chainsaw time. Trees had to be cut early so they could dry out before getting them ready for the stove and furnace. Dad would have to chop them down with an axe or cross cut saw. Once the tree was down the branches would need to be removed. When I was big enough I would help him the best I could. The cross cut saw was a little tricky. It was a long saw about 6 feet long or so with a handle on each end. Dad would take a hold of one handle and I would take a hold of the other. We needed to cut the tree into four ft. lengths so he could haul them out to the big building by the side of the barn and pile them in a long row to dry.
The tricky part of a cross cut saw is not to let it buckle. Dad would pull his handle across the log and I was supposed to pull it back, being careful not to let it buckle in the process. If I did I might hear a few words from Dad. It takes a while to get the hang of it so that you can keep the saw moving down through the log.
When the logs were dry enough for cutting into stove lengths, Dad would start up the old one lunger engine that we kept in the long building. It was a noisy thing and every once in a while it would make a loud noise. But you do what you gotta do. Dad would put the four ft. log on a table that was made so it could be pushed back enough to allow the log to meet the saw that was spinning like crazy from the engine that made a belt turn the saw. My job was to take a hold of the short end that would be cut off the long log and throw it onto a pile.
When the wood was cut into stove lengths the next step was to throw it onto the wagon and take it down to the house to be thrown through the cellar window where it would be either stacked in rows or tossed into a pile. Also that was where the large pieces would be split with an axe to make them easier to handle. Then the wood would have to be carried up the stairs and put into a wood box by the kitchen stove for Mom to use to heat up the stove for cooking.
It was a long haul to get just one tree to the place of being useful for heating and cooking. But that's the way it was. Another necessary task to living on a farm.
Monday, March 7, 2016
WHOSE IDEA WAS IT? (Part Two)
Hello Neighbor. Thanks for stopping by.
To continue my story of "Whose Idea Was It?"
.My sister, Mary, was living in the old farm house. Her kids had mostly grown up and moved on with their lives. Mary surprised us one day by just packing up and heading to Florida. This was before Al and I had gotten serious about our move to Florida.
After Al and I was all settled I found out where my sister was living. She had ended up in the Tampa area over on the west side of the state.One day I caught the Greyhound Bus and went to visit her. We had a good visit. When I left there, I suggested that maybe it would be a good idea if she came over to the Hollywood area. I knew that she would be able to find work as she was smart with figures.
.
Well, one day she showed up at our place. When Mary found a job she was able to get a small place of her own. One day Mary mentioned how she was always feeling so tired. Everyone knows that the older you get the more tired you feel, but Mary didn't think she was that old yet. She was around 46 and didn't think she was old enough to feel so tired.. One day she collapsed and ended up in the hospital.
Here I need to back track a few years. When Mary turned 40 she went to get a pap test, as everyone did in those days. Perhaps they still do today. The pap test came back indicating a problem. The doctor said she had to have her uterus removed. So this was done. At the follow-up meeting with the doctor, he told Mary he had found a small spot on the lining of the uterus and that he wanted to do a hysterectomy because there was a good chance that little spot might have caused something where the lining had been. Mary asked him what would happen if she didn't have the operation.. He said, "You will know in seven years." As far as I know, Mary never went back to a doctor or any more pap test.
So Mary was in the hospital. The doctor wanted to do an exploratory operation. She did not want that to be done. I had asked for prayers for her with a number of churches. I knew that God was able to stop the operation at any time. I remembered how God had stopped Abraham from killing his son Isaac on the altar at the last moment. I believed that God could stop the doctor's hand from making the cut at the last moment. But God has his reasons for not always answering our prayers the way we want Him too. That was a hard time for me to deal with God's no.
I knew later why it was the way it was. Mary was full of cancer and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The doctor said that chemo would not help, but Mary wanted to try it anyway. So she did. Of course she was very sick after the chemo treatment. The doctor had one marijuana pill that he gave her to help ease he pain. Then he told me I would have to find more "on the street". Well I knew a lady and I felt sure that this person would be able to find something for Mary. She came up with a few cigarettes of marijuana. Mary hung on and kept her job for a while longer. She was lucky or I should say God had provided for her because the company she worked for had 100% coverage. Soon she had to give up work and moved in with us where I could take care of her.
It was now about three weeks before Christmas and I had called all her kids to come and we would have a party the week end before Christmas. A week before that, Mary decided she wanted to go to the hospital. The week before the party, I went to the church Wed. evening to practice with my kids for Christmas. A friend drove me home from church. When we arrived at the house there was no one there. We headed for the hospital. By the time I got there Mary had already left us. There was a friend of hers staying with her that day. So our party turned into a celebration of her life. All the kids had arrived too late to see Mary. I think that Mary did not want them to see her as she was and wanted to go home before they all arrived. So we had our celebration of Mary's life and then the kids went back to their homes. Now I know whose idea it was. God's idea. He wanted us to be there in Florida because He knew Mary would need someone to be with her at the end. Mary gamboled and lost.
I am going to share a writing that I wrote the following spring that shares a little more about Mary.
To continue my story of "Whose Idea Was It?"
.My sister, Mary, was living in the old farm house. Her kids had mostly grown up and moved on with their lives. Mary surprised us one day by just packing up and heading to Florida. This was before Al and I had gotten serious about our move to Florida.
After Al and I was all settled I found out where my sister was living. She had ended up in the Tampa area over on the west side of the state.One day I caught the Greyhound Bus and went to visit her. We had a good visit. When I left there, I suggested that maybe it would be a good idea if she came over to the Hollywood area. I knew that she would be able to find work as she was smart with figures.
.
Well, one day she showed up at our place. When Mary found a job she was able to get a small place of her own. One day Mary mentioned how she was always feeling so tired. Everyone knows that the older you get the more tired you feel, but Mary didn't think she was that old yet. She was around 46 and didn't think she was old enough to feel so tired.. One day she collapsed and ended up in the hospital.
Here I need to back track a few years. When Mary turned 40 she went to get a pap test, as everyone did in those days. Perhaps they still do today. The pap test came back indicating a problem. The doctor said she had to have her uterus removed. So this was done. At the follow-up meeting with the doctor, he told Mary he had found a small spot on the lining of the uterus and that he wanted to do a hysterectomy because there was a good chance that little spot might have caused something where the lining had been. Mary asked him what would happen if she didn't have the operation.. He said, "You will know in seven years." As far as I know, Mary never went back to a doctor or any more pap test.
So Mary was in the hospital. The doctor wanted to do an exploratory operation. She did not want that to be done. I had asked for prayers for her with a number of churches. I knew that God was able to stop the operation at any time. I remembered how God had stopped Abraham from killing his son Isaac on the altar at the last moment. I believed that God could stop the doctor's hand from making the cut at the last moment. But God has his reasons for not always answering our prayers the way we want Him too. That was a hard time for me to deal with God's no.
I knew later why it was the way it was. Mary was full of cancer and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The doctor said that chemo would not help, but Mary wanted to try it anyway. So she did. Of course she was very sick after the chemo treatment. The doctor had one marijuana pill that he gave her to help ease he pain. Then he told me I would have to find more "on the street". Well I knew a lady and I felt sure that this person would be able to find something for Mary. She came up with a few cigarettes of marijuana. Mary hung on and kept her job for a while longer. She was lucky or I should say God had provided for her because the company she worked for had 100% coverage. Soon she had to give up work and moved in with us where I could take care of her.
It was now about three weeks before Christmas and I had called all her kids to come and we would have a party the week end before Christmas. A week before that, Mary decided she wanted to go to the hospital. The week before the party, I went to the church Wed. evening to practice with my kids for Christmas. A friend drove me home from church. When we arrived at the house there was no one there. We headed for the hospital. By the time I got there Mary had already left us. There was a friend of hers staying with her that day. So our party turned into a celebration of her life. All the kids had arrived too late to see Mary. I think that Mary did not want them to see her as she was and wanted to go home before they all arrived. So we had our celebration of Mary's life and then the kids went back to their homes. Now I know whose idea it was. God's idea. He wanted us to be there in Florida because He knew Mary would need someone to be with her at the end. Mary gamboled and lost.
I am going to share a writing that I wrote the following spring that shares a little more about Mary.
MARY'S ROSE
"Christmas is coming. It will soon be here. Please, Lord, just a little longer," my heart cried. My sister, Mary, loved Christmas. She loved to give gifts to all her family. Mary was working hard on her gift list while cancer was hard at work on her.
It was about a year and a half ago when we learned that Mary had terminal cancer. She put up a good fight as the days struggled by. First it was weeks and then months. And now it was almost Christmas. and Mary was confined to bed. And tho she was connected to two machines to help keep her comfortable, she kept busy cutting out patch-work pieces for quilts. She would cut them out and I would sew them together for her and the she would tack the quilts. Together we made one for each of her six children. And my heart would say, "Please, Lord, just a little longer."
On day Mary would say, "Shirley, here is a list. Would you please get these for me the next time you go shopping?" Another day she would remark; "I hope that package comes soon, I ordered some little things for my grandchildren." When the package arrived or I had gone shopping, I would get out the card table and set it up beside the bed. With Christmas wrapping paper, tags and tape, Mary would busy herself with the wrapping of gifts. And again my heart would cry, "Please, Lord, just a little longer."
Christmas morning came, but it was too late. Mary had left us the week before to spend Christmas with her Lord in that heavenly home. But wait a minute. What is this? Why yes, under the tree are presents for everyone from Mary. Quilts for her children and little things for the grandchildren. A footstool for my husband, Mary was still there sharing one last Christmas with us.
And my gift? Oh yes, there was one for me, too. Mary had made arrangements with her son to take care of that. For under the tree were two rose bushes. So now when I go outside I sometimes find a lovely big red rose or a pretty white one. I cut the red rose and bring it inside. As I tenderly place it in a pretty vase, I would say to myself, "Mary's rose.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
HE WAS THERE ALL THE TIME-all 80 years
Yesterday, Feb. 29, was my 20th leap year birthday and I want to thank all my relatives, friends and neighbors who sent me so many birthday wishes. Don't be fooled by the 20 it really was my 80th. It was a long three day celebration because our daughter, Karen Prior, celebrated hers on Sat. the 27th. Our son, Scot, was here from Yakima, WA and our other son, Albert and his wife, Linda, were here from Maine. We had a great time visiting, sight seeing and celebrating. We are all looking forward to my 21st in four years so that I can "go into a bar and order something". Not really. Once again a big thank you and to God a great big THANK YOU His many, many blessings and for having been with me all these many years, when so many times I didn't know it. He was there all the time.
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