Grand Pa

 Feeding his chickens when he lived on his son's farm out on Stevens Lane. As a small child I remember his chickens, goats, cow, mule and rabbits that he raise. Also, the large gardens . My big sis and I used those rows of vegetables as a maze to run and play. I can still feel the loose dirt under my bare feet. 
 Pa smoked cigarettes that he rolled and also liked his chewing tobacco. There is a little dark spit running down his chin from the last habit. Grand Ma in the pink, hated both habits. Little did we realize that she had an obsessive cleaning disorder. Everything in her home was spic and span. The white glove test could be given at any moment and she would not fail. 
 Pa, Mother and Grand Ma taken during Christmas at our house. My sister has the floor basket in her home. 
Pa in front of our Cedar Christmas tree. It was a true hunt when trying to find the perfect Christmas tree. No one in the country would be caught buying one and at this point in time I had not even heard of a artificial  tree. Pa would always come up to our home and spend Christmas Eve. Christmas morning he would entertain  us with  stories of his yearly encounter with Santa. One year he told us that Santa got hung in the elbow of the stove pipe and he had to take it apart to get Santa out. He would always buy us a big bag of apples and oranges for Christmas and when I was small I thought that was the only time citrus fruit was in the stores. 
 Both of these photos were taken in the little house my Uncle provided for his parents on Stevens Lane. Yep that is me with the long hair. I was working in Nashville and had gotten my first car, so I would go at least once a month to have dinner with them and spend time with my Pa.  Grand Ma would cook and clean(no one mess with her kitchen) and Pa and I would visit. I could listen to his stories forever. One I remember quite vividly is the one where he had gone squirrel hunting and was tired. He sat down at the bottom of this big oak and fell asleep as soon as his bottom hit the ground. He said he was dreaming about these beautiful bells playing when he awoke and looked into the eyes of a squirrel. The squirrel had crawled down the tree and was making a ringing noise on his gun barrel. Pa looked at me with those soft brown eyes and said he just did not have the heart to kill the squirrel so he came home empty handed. 
 Pa was the first one to get up in the morning and he would make a fire in the cook stove and brew him self a pot of coffee that was consumed before anyone feet hit the cold floors of the house. 
This photo was taken when I was a teenager in high school. Pa always wore his overalls and a long sleeve shirt. One leg was shorter than the other so I could tell by his gait that it was him when he came into view. He walked almost everywhere he went in the country. He did have a mule but most often left him to other things and just walked to his destination. When I was about five or six, the cats were sitting waiting for a stream of milk from the cow Pa was milking. I was thirsty and that looked like a good way to have a drink so I asked if he would give me some. He said "Babe (that is what he called me) go get in line." I sat at the end of the row of three cats and waited my turn.  I was anticipating the nice taste of cold milk. When it was my turn, I opened my mouth as wide as possible and  the stream hit me in the face with the force of being shot from a cannon and not an udder.  Worse still it was very warm and sticky and had gotten all over my face and top. I yelled" Ugh" and Pa almost fell off his milk stool laughing. 
The Kitty Justice is to not ask for something unless you know what you are getting, no matter how old you happen to be. 

Comments

Lee said…
Wonderful memories, Lady Di....thanks for sharing. :)
Even cold I could not drink fresh milk and when I would visit my Grandparents they would go and by homogenized milk for me:) Yep, I was spoiled.
Lady Di Tn said…
Lee
Glad you enjoyed them. Peace

Monica
Most grandchildren are spoiled by their grand parents. I was not aware of homogenized milk or peanut butter until I started to school. You could go to the lunch room mid morning and get some homemade peanut butter and crackers along with a little carton of milk for three whole cents. Peace
DUTA said…
This post on your grandfather is..grand. It emanates so much love and tenderness for the man! I think perhaps he reads it from above and is very proud of you.

All the pictures displayed in the post are interesting.
My favorite picture, though, is the one with your Pa, in which you have long hair and the figure of a model.
Lady Di Tn said…
Duta
How very kind your words are and I do hope he can read and see me from afar. I have wonderful memories of him and the love he showed me. Thanks about the comments of the 70's me. I was 118 lbs and most of the weight was from my thick long hair. At one point it was waist length. Peace
Great memories---thanks for sharing with us. We always got oranges for Christmas too. Remember when most everything was seasonal--now just go to the store and they have it.
I scrolled through all I have missed of your blog. Nice shots and good stories.
the salmon was very tasty and 5 were caught altogether. It was actually crummy fishing that week. Even the Almanac said so. LOL MB
Lady Di Tn said…
MB
My MIL still tells me things are not in Season so don't buy them. But you are correct most everything can be found in the stores. I would have thought 5 salmon would have been a good haul. Glad you like the sharing of memories. He was a VERY SPECIAL person to me as he was my FIRST LOVE. Peace
5 Salmon was good but we were there for 5 days and 2 salmon each a day is the limit so we could have had a total of 30 salmon and bob wanted to catch some bottom fish, Cod, Lingcod, rockfish you know white meat fish but none were biting.
But what we got sure tasted good. MB
Lady Di Tn said…
MB
That was not so good then but you can always go back. I have to go to the grocery for fresh salmon and then you wonder how long it has been since the catch. Have a great week end Peace
I loved that you had a cedar Christmas tree. We did too, for most of my younger years-it is still my favorite tree.One of these days I am going to use one for Christmas again. It was a sad day when Mother bought the artificial tree!

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