When we were children, a lot of our supplies were delivered by traveling salesmen. No not the joke kind. Real working men.
We had the Fuller Brush Men, Our combs and brushes came from him.
We had the Mason Shoe man, Yep, Work shoes mostly.
We had the Watkins Salesman, Mama always bought their vanilla flavoring. You can still get it in Ferndale at one of the old shops. We also bought Drink mixes, stronger than kool-aid but similar.
We had an ice man, Yep, you needed those if you had an ice-box. That was a big box to keep your food cool. It literally held a huge ice cube, or block of ice, and the inner part of the icebox was of metal. Not a bad invention for a time before electricity. Our Ice Man was my Later-in-life
best friends dad. He was George Rudkins, My friend was Georgia or you all remember her as Trink. In Town we had in ice company, it was on the Main street, right across from the high shcool. We often would stop there and buy ice if George was not due to come around.
We had an LB Price Distributor, HE sold blankets, pillows, lamps, etc. Daddy bought the lamp I now use in my bedroom. It is the one with the pink rose on it. That lamp was the first electric item we owned. Besides the fridge and lights in the ceiling. I never recalll being without electrictiy, but I do recall going to my grandmas where we only had oil lamps. Very spooky at night, especially with all the river sounds. Mama gave me that lamp and it too has a long history.
We had fruit peddlers, Mama always bought some fruit from them, she did a lot of canning with bought fruit, plus we picked it from old home places, That was our extension of fruit. I recall Strawberries and Peaches in the summer. Huc kelberries we picked, Muskadines we picked and persimmons and wild plums. We loved it, at that time I did not like Strawberries, I recall Mama and Aunt Sylvia, (her sister) sitting for hours and cleaning the berries. Aunt Sylvia helped and Mama always gave her part. They could not afford to buy their own. My Mama always shared what we had. Guess that is why we had so much in the food line. God just blessed her pantry. I have to ask your Dad he did mention other distributors but I can not recall.
He maketh me to lie down in Green Pastures,
He leadeth me beside the stillwaters.
Psalms 23:1-2
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
My name is Sue and I am the proud Grandmother, (mamaw) to 11 soon to be 12 grandchildren.
This shows how well I check my blog. Kris wrote this and updated my blog, (note the difference in the page). I did not read it or I would have been informed earlier of her pregnancy.
When I looked at the blog, she told me she was updating it, I said "It looks good,"
I should have read. Don't you think?
This shows how well I check my blog. Kris wrote this and updated my blog, (note the difference in the page). I did not read it or I would have been informed earlier of her pregnancy.
When I looked at the blog, she told me she was updating it, I said "It looks good,"
I should have read. Don't you think?
1968
Today we took a drive through old Sacramento. It has changed a lot in 39 years.
To begin:
In 1968 Your Dad gave me my first and only set of wedding and engagement rings. Prior to this time, we could not afford them, We were married and that was all that mattered. I did not need a ring on my hand to prove that or to make me faithful. In those days, If a woman did not have a ring on her finger and she was carrying around a baby or was pregnant, everyone thought she was an unwed Mom. True story.
In 1967 Wynell loaned me a set that was given to her by Mickey MacWilliams, Her first Love. She wore then while pregnant with Mark, and she was not married to the father. She also word corsets to keep her tummy in, and she kept working until the due date. Most people were none the wiser but she had the rings to wear, in case she was showing. She told me her cousin, Used to put her knee in Wynells back, and pull the corset as tight as possible. She barely showed when he was born. Poor baby, it is a wonder he made it.
So I was loaned the rings, when I had none and was big pregnant.
We celebrated by taking a trip to Old Sacramento, We had planned on a several days, Coy and Lou kept the boys for us. Ken was one year old. Charles was 4.
I called several times a day, I checked in at night, I had never left my babies and this was hard for me. We spent much of our time walking around the town, We walked the capital building and all the grounds. It was a very nice 2 days. Yes you heard right, We came home early on Sunday. We knew they would be in church, but I marched right in and picked up my babies. I had missed them so much.
When we arrived in church, Ken lit up like a candle. He ran for me, his eyes were red from crying, he missed us so much. He spent the next few days at my feet, constantly.
Charles was a tough 4 year old but he missed us too. he was equally happy to see us.
Coy and Lou asked why we were back so early. My response.
I could not stay away from the babies any longer. They laughed and said " We took good care of them."
That is one thing I never doubted, Lou and Coy Loved the boys.
So driving through the old part of town brought back those memories. We loved it and talked about it for a while, we even tried to find the motel we stayed in. Of course everything has changed but we stayed at 15Th and I street. A motel stands there today, same one , different name. We ate at a Sam's restaurant, New then, it was immaculate. Years later we tried to renew that weekend away, with our kids, but it had all changed, plus we were older and had more money so it was not as big a treat as previous time had been. I was only 22 years old then. I thought then I was old, Now I wish I Were 22 again. No not really, I have been so blessed with you all, your gifts to us of grandchildren, your respect, would I change things, Probably, but who knows, maybe I did make the correct decisions back then. a new avenue would have taken us to different ends of everything we did. Each move was a road we chose, Each of our lives branched off those roads in the direction each of you travel now.
Remember, What you choose today will be there forever. One way or another.
So now you know how we spent our 5Th anniversary.
To begin:
In 1968 Your Dad gave me my first and only set of wedding and engagement rings. Prior to this time, we could not afford them, We were married and that was all that mattered. I did not need a ring on my hand to prove that or to make me faithful. In those days, If a woman did not have a ring on her finger and she was carrying around a baby or was pregnant, everyone thought she was an unwed Mom. True story.
In 1967 Wynell loaned me a set that was given to her by Mickey MacWilliams, Her first Love. She wore then while pregnant with Mark, and she was not married to the father. She also word corsets to keep her tummy in, and she kept working until the due date. Most people were none the wiser but she had the rings to wear, in case she was showing. She told me her cousin, Used to put her knee in Wynells back, and pull the corset as tight as possible. She barely showed when he was born. Poor baby, it is a wonder he made it.
So I was loaned the rings, when I had none and was big pregnant.
We celebrated by taking a trip to Old Sacramento, We had planned on a several days, Coy and Lou kept the boys for us. Ken was one year old. Charles was 4.
I called several times a day, I checked in at night, I had never left my babies and this was hard for me. We spent much of our time walking around the town, We walked the capital building and all the grounds. It was a very nice 2 days. Yes you heard right, We came home early on Sunday. We knew they would be in church, but I marched right in and picked up my babies. I had missed them so much.
When we arrived in church, Ken lit up like a candle. He ran for me, his eyes were red from crying, he missed us so much. He spent the next few days at my feet, constantly.
Charles was a tough 4 year old but he missed us too. he was equally happy to see us.
Coy and Lou asked why we were back so early. My response.
I could not stay away from the babies any longer. They laughed and said " We took good care of them."
That is one thing I never doubted, Lou and Coy Loved the boys.
So driving through the old part of town brought back those memories. We loved it and talked about it for a while, we even tried to find the motel we stayed in. Of course everything has changed but we stayed at 15Th and I street. A motel stands there today, same one , different name. We ate at a Sam's restaurant, New then, it was immaculate. Years later we tried to renew that weekend away, with our kids, but it had all changed, plus we were older and had more money so it was not as big a treat as previous time had been. I was only 22 years old then. I thought then I was old, Now I wish I Were 22 again. No not really, I have been so blessed with you all, your gifts to us of grandchildren, your respect, would I change things, Probably, but who knows, maybe I did make the correct decisions back then. a new avenue would have taken us to different ends of everything we did. Each move was a road we chose, Each of our lives branched off those roads in the direction each of you travel now.
Remember, What you choose today will be there forever. One way or another.
So now you know how we spent our 5Th anniversary.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Todays conversation
as we were driving today, we recalled the fun we had as kids. It all started when I told your Dad about Evan asking me if I had TV Land when I was a kid? I explained to him, I only recall 3 channels and then we often had to turn the rabbit ears, hit the Television and play mind games with it until we could see the picture better. I do recall the Mickey Mouse club, with Annette, (my personal favorite) She later stared in lots of Beach Movies, Like Beach blanket Bingo, etc.
I did watch, (sort of) on school days, The grand ole Opry or the Louisiana Hayride, These were country music shows with the original stars. I recall seeing Patsy Cline, Jeannie C, Riley, String bean, (part of a comedy team), Marty Robbins, and of course my favorite, J.E, Maxine and Bonnie Brown. or better know as the Brown trio. We were not allowed to sit inside in front of the television, so unless the weather was bad, we played outside. Now on the our conversations.
We played a lot of games you probably have never heard of, How about Annie-Over. IN this game you have two teams, One on each side of the house, One calls Annie, the other team answers Over, Then the ball is thrown, It must be caught before hitting the ground. If the throwing team could not get it over, they Had 3 tries, and each time they let you know it was not a good pitch by calling Pig Tails, or Do Over, We used the Pig Tails line. The object is to run around the house and throw the ball at an opposing team member, You often synced them out, not letting them know who had the ball, any one of the team mates could have caught it. But we all pretended to have the ball so they did not know who to watch out for. Lots of fun and a great exercise . Next we often played "Piggier in the Pen wants a motion" Long name, lots of fun. You again had two teams, A circle (Pen) was drawn in a spot, A line was drawn at each end of the playing field. The teams stood behind the team until the game started. Then you could run, If a member of another team tagged you, you went to the Pig Pen. Then you could be heard begging for a motion to get out of the pen.If one of your team members could make it to you, (without being tagged too) You then got out and got a free walk. The game kept going until you were ready to stop. It usually ended up in a tie.
Your Dad said they made, Tommy Walkers, Of course that is Stilts, They took a 2by 4 and nailed a board on each one, about 18 inches up, The board was cut at an angle to fit smoothly on the long two by four. He said they often used leather straps to add additional support to the foot rest, Now the brave soul, stood on the foot rest and walked around the yard on poles. It is loads of fun. I hope each of you recall, We had some and I learned at the old age of 30 something.
My brothers made traps, using simple twigs and a prop to hold it off the ground. They would sit and wait, sometime, and when the prey got in the trap they would pull the string and drop the cage on the unsuspecting bird or rabbit. Roy told me of an incident, I am pretty sure I posted on this before but here goes. Daddy and Roy had made a trap. They were waiting on the prey to walk in, Well they did get something, It was a big Turkey with babies. When they went to get the turkey, our dog "Pooched" Was with them. He was a short hound. Kind of like a Basset hound. Well he was there all right but the turkey was fast, He kept bugging the trap, the turkey had chicks, When it got out, and away, (again thanks to Poochie), The big bird was flying away, Poochie, was having none of that so she grabbed onto the bird. The bird flew with the dog hanging on. Roy said he can still to this day see My Daddy running behind yelling, "Poochie Let go" LOL LOL I can just see it. It had to be hilarious. No we did not get the mama turkey and since turkeys cant really fly much, he did not get too far off the ground. Poochie finally let go and was safe. True Story.
What else did we do? I had a pine tree I loved to play under, I would go up to the tree, take a rake and rake the pine straw up to form walls to rooms. I would design my house this way. Of course it was small but it was my design. Hey with straw you can even move walls pretty easily.
I spent as much time in the dirt as I did anywhere. We took a garden hoe and made roads. They were long and involved. Sometimes going over a stream, (man made or should I say, Child made. We could spend hours pushing blocks around the roads and imagining the trip.
Roy was my favorite playmate. I do not recall ever playing with Rosie and Jeanette, They were pretty much indoor people, or sit in shade and do nothing.
One think I had to do I hated, We grew our own potatoes, Lots of potatoes, When the bugs got on them, we did not use insecticides, It was truly organic. So we picked the bugs off into coffee tins, and Roy would boil then around Mamas old Wash pot, We would see him stirring and spitting. The odor had to be horrible and we still kid him about the bugs he cooked. YUCK.
Mama would shake the tomato plants for tomato worms, and pick them off herself but our dogs would eat them, sounds gross but they are mostly tomato bush inside. They just devour the bush if not controlled. Not pleasant but a necessity's. So that is a few, just check in I have one one Door to Door Salesman. Not a joke a real happening in our lives.
I did watch, (sort of) on school days, The grand ole Opry or the Louisiana Hayride, These were country music shows with the original stars. I recall seeing Patsy Cline, Jeannie C, Riley, String bean, (part of a comedy team), Marty Robbins, and of course my favorite, J.E, Maxine and Bonnie Brown. or better know as the Brown trio. We were not allowed to sit inside in front of the television, so unless the weather was bad, we played outside. Now on the our conversations.
We played a lot of games you probably have never heard of, How about Annie-Over. IN this game you have two teams, One on each side of the house, One calls Annie, the other team answers Over, Then the ball is thrown, It must be caught before hitting the ground. If the throwing team could not get it over, they Had 3 tries, and each time they let you know it was not a good pitch by calling Pig Tails, or Do Over, We used the Pig Tails line. The object is to run around the house and throw the ball at an opposing team member, You often synced them out, not letting them know who had the ball, any one of the team mates could have caught it. But we all pretended to have the ball so they did not know who to watch out for. Lots of fun and a great exercise . Next we often played "Piggier in the Pen wants a motion" Long name, lots of fun. You again had two teams, A circle (Pen) was drawn in a spot, A line was drawn at each end of the playing field. The teams stood behind the team until the game started. Then you could run, If a member of another team tagged you, you went to the Pig Pen. Then you could be heard begging for a motion to get out of the pen.If one of your team members could make it to you, (without being tagged too) You then got out and got a free walk. The game kept going until you were ready to stop. It usually ended up in a tie.
Your Dad said they made, Tommy Walkers, Of course that is Stilts, They took a 2by 4 and nailed a board on each one, about 18 inches up, The board was cut at an angle to fit smoothly on the long two by four. He said they often used leather straps to add additional support to the foot rest, Now the brave soul, stood on the foot rest and walked around the yard on poles. It is loads of fun. I hope each of you recall, We had some and I learned at the old age of 30 something.
My brothers made traps, using simple twigs and a prop to hold it off the ground. They would sit and wait, sometime, and when the prey got in the trap they would pull the string and drop the cage on the unsuspecting bird or rabbit. Roy told me of an incident, I am pretty sure I posted on this before but here goes. Daddy and Roy had made a trap. They were waiting on the prey to walk in, Well they did get something, It was a big Turkey with babies. When they went to get the turkey, our dog "Pooched" Was with them. He was a short hound. Kind of like a Basset hound. Well he was there all right but the turkey was fast, He kept bugging the trap, the turkey had chicks, When it got out, and away, (again thanks to Poochie), The big bird was flying away, Poochie, was having none of that so she grabbed onto the bird. The bird flew with the dog hanging on. Roy said he can still to this day see My Daddy running behind yelling, "Poochie Let go" LOL LOL I can just see it. It had to be hilarious. No we did not get the mama turkey and since turkeys cant really fly much, he did not get too far off the ground. Poochie finally let go and was safe. True Story.
What else did we do? I had a pine tree I loved to play under, I would go up to the tree, take a rake and rake the pine straw up to form walls to rooms. I would design my house this way. Of course it was small but it was my design. Hey with straw you can even move walls pretty easily.
I spent as much time in the dirt as I did anywhere. We took a garden hoe and made roads. They were long and involved. Sometimes going over a stream, (man made or should I say, Child made. We could spend hours pushing blocks around the roads and imagining the trip.
Roy was my favorite playmate. I do not recall ever playing with Rosie and Jeanette, They were pretty much indoor people, or sit in shade and do nothing.
One think I had to do I hated, We grew our own potatoes, Lots of potatoes, When the bugs got on them, we did not use insecticides, It was truly organic. So we picked the bugs off into coffee tins, and Roy would boil then around Mamas old Wash pot, We would see him stirring and spitting. The odor had to be horrible and we still kid him about the bugs he cooked. YUCK.
Mama would shake the tomato plants for tomato worms, and pick them off herself but our dogs would eat them, sounds gross but they are mostly tomato bush inside. They just devour the bush if not controlled. Not pleasant but a necessity's. So that is a few, just check in I have one one Door to Door Salesman. Not a joke a real happening in our lives.
Graduation Time
Today we went to a party for John David. He will be attending Junior college and playing Center on the football team, He wanted to gain weight for the position and he has. He is still a very good looking young man and equally polite.
We got to Roberts and Ginas, by 1 PM. Not bad since we left here at 938, drove to Safeway, gassed up, Walmart next and bought necessary items, Now we had no breakfast so we got to Red Bluff and stopped at McDonalds for our favorite breakfast. By then it was 1030. Finally we are on the road, Your Dad drove it and I worked on a quilt I was making.
We got there as others were arriving and time to spare. I saw the speedometer, hit 75 and more a few times. I said little, as he was driving and his mind was on the job at hand. We had a great day. The food was amazing, So much, I took my usual, Cinnamon Rolls, Robert told Gina to hide them. Of course she did not. At one point later in the day, Robert said "Gina those would be great for breakfast I am going to wrap some up for that". She said, (teasing) "Go Ahead,"He immediately went for the wrap, When Gina said "Robert I was kidding". He did a quick stop. He was gonna do it. LOL
Should have seen the look on his face.
Robert and Mike have always been so special to us, almost like our own, even though he was 7 years old when I married into the family and met him. Robert really thinks a lot of his Uncle David, the one person in his family he admires, Hey what is not to admire. He admired his work ethic, his family, his commitment to his family. When Robert bought his home he came to our home and said, "Uncle David, Now I am like you, I have a home in the country". That home has probably appreciated 10 times in value since he built it, when Gina was pregnant with Johnny.
That area was Loomis, Now it is Granite Bay and the homes going in there are amazing. One behind him sold for 975 thous, 2 short years ago. We loved their plan and may use it for the home we build, However we love our open living area, more space. I just love her craft room/office right off the living area. That would make ours more appealing, Maybe we can see our builder for plans to do that to our home, I just need a craft room and maybe a little larger dining area. Otherwise we Love this house. It is perfect for older people. As we arrived home tonight, we both stated how much we enjoy this house, I know we will figure it out before we build one. Looks like we will build, we will have to see the homes already built plus we know how poor they build homes there. Our insulation here is so good, we have not had the central air on at all. It is amazing what good insulation will do. I have to say that was a great investment. Upgrading to R39, and insulating the garage for only 200 dollars extra, total.
To end the day Ken bought us tickets for the ball game. Mark was playing, However he was in the dug out, just suited up, No play. On Tuesday he will be pitching. If we decide to go Gina said to let her know and Mark will put us on the list to get in. Have to think about that, we would love to see him pitch, but not sure is we can go, Dad is pretty wiped out from today. I am having lots of angina but that has been a problem for over a week. I am sure it is from the bronchitis I have. Hopefully anyway.
The game was pretty good, I need to check out the finale scores, When I left it was 6-5 River Cats. We left in the middle of the 6th. inning.
Pray for the sale of the house, It goes into the Examiner tomorrow. Sunday the 3rd. It will also be in the San Francisco Gate. On line version of the paper. We listed at 900 but may have to take less, Your Dad can not keep on working. He is so tired.
We figure we can still take 600 and be in good Shape but 900 would be a blessing to all of you too. So pray for his will to be done in our lives.
Well it is late so I must go to bed.
Good night. Love to all.
We got to Roberts and Ginas, by 1 PM. Not bad since we left here at 938, drove to Safeway, gassed up, Walmart next and bought necessary items, Now we had no breakfast so we got to Red Bluff and stopped at McDonalds for our favorite breakfast. By then it was 1030. Finally we are on the road, Your Dad drove it and I worked on a quilt I was making.
We got there as others were arriving and time to spare. I saw the speedometer, hit 75 and more a few times. I said little, as he was driving and his mind was on the job at hand. We had a great day. The food was amazing, So much, I took my usual, Cinnamon Rolls, Robert told Gina to hide them. Of course she did not. At one point later in the day, Robert said "Gina those would be great for breakfast I am going to wrap some up for that". She said, (teasing) "Go Ahead,"He immediately went for the wrap, When Gina said "Robert I was kidding". He did a quick stop. He was gonna do it. LOL
Should have seen the look on his face.
Robert and Mike have always been so special to us, almost like our own, even though he was 7 years old when I married into the family and met him. Robert really thinks a lot of his Uncle David, the one person in his family he admires, Hey what is not to admire. He admired his work ethic, his family, his commitment to his family. When Robert bought his home he came to our home and said, "Uncle David, Now I am like you, I have a home in the country". That home has probably appreciated 10 times in value since he built it, when Gina was pregnant with Johnny.
That area was Loomis, Now it is Granite Bay and the homes going in there are amazing. One behind him sold for 975 thous, 2 short years ago. We loved their plan and may use it for the home we build, However we love our open living area, more space. I just love her craft room/office right off the living area. That would make ours more appealing, Maybe we can see our builder for plans to do that to our home, I just need a craft room and maybe a little larger dining area. Otherwise we Love this house. It is perfect for older people. As we arrived home tonight, we both stated how much we enjoy this house, I know we will figure it out before we build one. Looks like we will build, we will have to see the homes already built plus we know how poor they build homes there. Our insulation here is so good, we have not had the central air on at all. It is amazing what good insulation will do. I have to say that was a great investment. Upgrading to R39, and insulating the garage for only 200 dollars extra, total.
To end the day Ken bought us tickets for the ball game. Mark was playing, However he was in the dug out, just suited up, No play. On Tuesday he will be pitching. If we decide to go Gina said to let her know and Mark will put us on the list to get in. Have to think about that, we would love to see him pitch, but not sure is we can go, Dad is pretty wiped out from today. I am having lots of angina but that has been a problem for over a week. I am sure it is from the bronchitis I have. Hopefully anyway.
The game was pretty good, I need to check out the finale scores, When I left it was 6-5 River Cats. We left in the middle of the 6th. inning.
Pray for the sale of the house, It goes into the Examiner tomorrow. Sunday the 3rd. It will also be in the San Francisco Gate. On line version of the paper. We listed at 900 but may have to take less, Your Dad can not keep on working. He is so tired.
We figure we can still take 600 and be in good Shape but 900 would be a blessing to all of you too. So pray for his will to be done in our lives.
Well it is late so I must go to bed.
Good night. Love to all.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)