Just Love and Hard Work

Think about what Mom and Dad did when they were not working. Did they travel. go to their cabin at the lake, go out to dinner all the time, spend money on fashionable clothes or any of the other things that are part of our conspicuous consumtion today. No they worked hard everyday, even when it was a day off. We always had 3 meals a day, everyday except Sunday when we had a good breakfast and a really good dinner. Dad would go to work at 7am and get off at 3:30. Troy and I would run down to the corner to meat him as he walked down the street from the railroad. We were usually rewarded with something in his lunch box. Maybe it was a left over twinkie or maybe it was a frog or an agatt that he found along the tracks. In the summer he would sit down for a half hour or so. He would have a beer and then he was off to the farm to work until it was too dark to see anymore. Then it would start all over the next day. On Saturdays he would spend the day on the farm, sometimes Sunday too. Mom was always up in time to cook Dad a good breakfast and make him a good lunch.
When they did take a little time to have some fun it was a family thing. On Sundays we would take a ride. Maybe it was just a ride around town. We would usually stop at Hoopers store, which was a little two Aisle grocery store. That was the ONE day of the week we might get to have a soda pop. We usually had a Hires Root Beer or a Nesbit Orange. Once a month or so we would go out to see Uncle Clifford and Aunt Golda, maybe stop to see if Uncle Herman was home. Or we would go out to see Aunt Esther and Uncle Warren. Once or twice a month we would get together with Uncle Brandon and Aunt May and their family and go up Montpelier canyon for picnics. Dad and Brandon would collect dead wood for the fire and then they would cut willows for sticks to roast the hot dogs. Mom and May would have salads and beans. Dad and Brandon would just have a good talk and relax. Once or twice a summer we would go out to the lake. Dad was a good swimmer, but Mom didn't swim. She did have a bathing suit, it was white if I remember right. They really liked to take a drive around the lake. Dad would point out where he had lived when he was a kid and where he once had a little garden next to a spring on the hill.
We always had food, shelter, a warm place to live (except for the back bedroom, but we always had lots of blankets), and a close family. The main thing I remember is that we were always home for dinner and then we were together in the front room, watching TV, Dad and Mom were probably reading, and then we were off to bed after the news.
More to come
Terence

OK, lets start with Grandma. Here are just afew other things I remember. Besides helping grandma with her tea in the morning I also helped her make her bed. especially when we were not in school. Her bed had to be just so, and the bedspread was always just right. One of the things I really remember about Grandma was how she would wash my hands. First she would run the water and get it just right, not too hot not cold. She had a way of using the washcloth and then drying your hands. I think she would have been real good working at a spa. I remember Mom talking about the whole back yard being a garden, that includes the grassy area we grew up with. Mom said her front yard was perfect with lots of flowers. I recall Dad wondering how she could ever get anything to grow where the back lawn was, but Mom said she had one of the best gardens in town. Of course we have all heard about how much Dr. Stock the dentist thought of Grandma. When she had to get false teeth she paid him off by washing the bibs he used for 1 cent a piece (for you young ones yes there was a time they used cloth and they were washed and reused). Even if she was only charged $50 in those days that amounts to 5000 bibs. And she washed them all by hand with a washboard and tub. None of us really know how hard they had it. When all they could pay for was basics like food and the light bill. No telephone (they didn't get a phone until Mom started working at the phone company), no car, none of the things we take for granted like magazines and newspapers. No going out to eat, no new clothes just because we want new clothes. Grandma's cane was even given to her by a friend.
We are spoiled to death and we should all sit back and think of how easy we have it.
Terence

Mom And Dad

Mom And Dad

Aren't they just the cutest couple ever!!!!

living life and loving life we live!

Oh yeah josh and I are going to Hawaii!!!! In 2 days crazy I know.....right. We are super excited to go down and visit with Richard and Mary Ann(josh favorite cousin)! We will tell ever one how fun it was and what we did...if its not to boring....hahahah!!!!

i almost put losh and cheli hahaha

Josh and cheli

A little tid bit

Hi family. I just wanted to tell you all that I added some of our blogs to the site so when you visit here you can visit others too. If you have a blog you would like to add please do. Not sure how? Go to LAYOUT and where it says MORE FROM THE FAMILY click the edit button, add your URL and add your name. Then save changes and you should be good to go. Don't worry, we are all learning how to do this together. Just try stuff out. It can usually be un-done if it's not what you wanted. Good luck.

Shay

P.S. When you post or leave a comment please leave your name so we know who you are. THANKS!!!

More of Grandma, our Queen

I think i goofed so sorry if i did, i do not know how this blogger thing works yet.
I typed Lelands stuff once, but i have to type it again because when i went to add the picture, everything i wrote disappeared on me.

Leland wrote:

I remember Grandma Skinner liked to sit out on the front porch and watch all the neighborhood. She also had a big jar full of buttons. she had a button for any shirt. She loved sauerkraut and wieners and i could smell that 2 blocks from home cooking after school and i would run home to get my wieners out of the sauerkraut because i hated it. I also remember one of her relatives used to come and visit and they would talk in German and I could not understand a word of it.

Debbie wrote:

I remember grandma making me dust mop her bedroom floor. She had linoleum on the floor. I had to make sure i got in the corners and under the bed. She had her temple clothes she kept in the top right hand drawer of her dresser and would get mad at us if we got in it. She had a cute little vanity she would sit in front of to comb her hair. she had me comb her hair once and braid it and put it in a bun, but when i was putting the hair pins in i pushed too hard and scratched her head. I don't remember ever combing her hair again. Grandma would always have me sit and write letters for her that she would then translate into German and send to Germany. She would always tell me to write bigger.

Grandma taught me how to knit and i would sit on the couch by her chair in the corner. She would have me rub lotion on her legs and i hated the smell of it. Grandma always was busy crocheting or braiding rugs or sewing quilts together. She drank Pero tea. I would hear her at night laying in bed saying her prayers in a whisper. I think they were in German. She loved the morning glory in front of the house and the Holly hocks on the side of the house where the humming birds came. Grandma sat in the kitchen in the morning and all day until just before dad came home from work and then she would get up and move into the front room for the rest of the night. She had to use a walker because she couldn't walk very good. I could remember that grandma could always tell when someone snuck into the house which we tried to do quite often.I would try my hardest to sneak in without her knowing it but would always get caught. I didn't know why for the longest time. The one of my mart brothers told me she could see the reflection in the fish tank that stood in the corner.

Terence wrote:

I remember grandma being such a good cook. Once a week she would bake bread. That was the day we all looked forward to because we would gave wonderful fresh from the oven rolls for dinner. My spot at the dinner table was next to grandma. I knew that i better be careful about what i put on my plate because if i didn't eat it all i would get a lecture about all the starving people in the world. Mom told me about the time during the great depression when hobos would come begging for food. Grand ma would never turn anyone away. But she would make them cut kindling. Then she would feed them the same as the family was having. Two things that grandma cooked that were my favorites. German potato pancakes. and cinnamon rolls. Always cooked just right and always without the need of a recipe. Grandma was into cleanliness. She would supervise Troy and I when we washed the dinner dishes. If they didn't' pass inspection they went back in the sink for a re-do. Terence.

Wyatt wrote:

I remember helping Grandma sew on her sewing machine which had no power and was operated by foot power. She would give me $5 every time i came home from college so when i went back i could eat something good. I remember the birthday parties we had for grandma and all the relations would come. We had to have it outside because there were so many people. Grandma would make me go out and get rhubarb and horseradish and help grind the horseradish. It was so bad i would have to go outside to get a breath every so often. But her rhubarb pie was worth grinding the horseradish. When Grandma was mad she always would say deminta gita. I don't know what it meant but i knew she was mad. I can remmber how cold it use to get in the back bedroom, and how grandma told me to go get a blanket and my pillow and put them on the new gas stove that sat by the one wall in the living room and then she tod me to run and rap myself in them and climb under the other covers in my bed. The only heat in the house were in the living room and the stove in the kitchen. I remember grandma trying to teach me to count in German but i didn't have the patience to sit ther eand learn so she finally told me to go out and play. I was so happy then but regret not learning now. I always wondered why we lived with Grandma and i thought she was quite stern with us, but then i realize that grandma needed us just as much as we neede and love her. She taught us some grat princeples in life that would lead us to who we are today and heow we should trat other people. She was one of Gods great spirits that has lived on this earth and i know that she will gain her celestial glory and live as a God in Heaven along side Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Wyatt.

Grandma

Does this picture look familiar to anyone.

Doesn't it just bring back a flood of memories.

Just to list a few,

Mondie said:

My memories of grandma! I remember helping grandma cut and tear the old worn out clothes into strips so grandma could braid them and then make oval shaped rugs. Then she would tell me to pt it on the gound and roll on them so they would flaten out. I also remember her sitting in ther corner by the refrigerator and darning all of our socks. When she would sew, she would ask me to thread her needles because she could not see and she would cus and say ,"I hate these damn English needles".

STAY TUNED, MORE TO COME.