Friday, February 06, 2004
PLAY AT GRANDMA'S HOUSE
In nice weather I played outside most of the day. There were a bevy of kittens and several dogs to keep me company. The cats were generally unnamed but the dogs were, Snuffy (the mother) Rags and Fritz. Snuffy had been grandma’s dog for a long time. She was short-haired and all-white except for black circles around and including her ears. Her two pups were longer haired and spotted here and there with big splotches. Their dad was absent except for conception and remained a mystery.
Mud pies were very big with my daily play. I would find an old coffee can and spoon, dig up some dirt, pump water from the well…and I was in business. I had old zinc jar caps lined with some kind of glass inside and I would attempt to make 3-layer cakes like my mom did. I studiously put the “dough” into the jar lids and placed them in the sun which of course was my “oven.” While the cake was baking I mixed up some “frosting” with thinner mud of course. I was so distraught when I tried to get my layers out of their “pans.” Of course they all cracked when drying and only came out in chunks. Not to be outdone they were piled up and “frosted” ……and then I picked some grass to go on my cake for coconut. I was so into this cake thing that I tasted some of the frosting believing it to be “chocolate”…….only when it hit my tongue did reality hit and I spit it out and kept wiping my tongue on my dress.
The front porch was my “house.” It went all across the front of grandma’s house and had a porch swing. I had several fancy dresses that had been my aunt’s and my mother’s at some time…….they were so pretty (still would be…wish I still had them)….they were finished off with pretty floral embroidery etc; the skirts flared out like the Ginger Rogers type and when I put one on and would twirl the skirt would flare out and I would be dancing in a palace with a handsome prince. Since I had no playmates at grandma’s I talked to myself constantly. This was entertaining to my furry friends and they would sit on the sidelines to watch and wonder who my “guest” was. I always had a four-footed audience.
Not far from the porch stood two fir trees in perfect line to put a metal pipe from one to the other for a gunny-sack swing. I begged and begged until Uncle Joe, my grandpa Stricklett’s brother, agreed to put one up for me since grandma didn’t mind. I remember the excitement so well. I watched every move he made with high anticipation. Finally he had it up and tested the rope to make sure it wouldn’t break with my weight but I couldn’t reach the swing to get on. That was remedied with two cement blocks stacked together. He had filled the gunny-sack with straw so it took a while before it quit sticking me when I hopped on but I didn’t mind. I had that old sack full of straw mulched down to powder by the time summer was over. I loved that swing.
Below the front of the house were a series of terraces that were planted in roses and hollyhocks. Steps went all the way down to the dirt road which was lined with lilacs. The scent in Springtime was unbelievable. When I tired of other play I would pick blooms off of the hollyhocks, and get some tooth-picks from grandma. Nothing was ever wasted at grandma’s house so now that I think back on it I’m surprised that she let me have them……however…..I would use the full blooms inverted for the skirts, run a toothpick down into the stem of it and on the other end put a bud for the head. Another toothpick run through would serve as arms. I thought this was my own invention but in talking with friends these years since I find it was a common pass time for little girls. It seems ballroom dances and hollyhocks gravitated together. A few years ago I planted holly hocks in my flower garden and I never look at them without thinking of grandma and the many hours I spent with her.
She loved flowers and spent much of her day digging and planting, pulling weeds or hauling water to them in large buckets. Of course I always tagged along when grandma came outside to work. Her preparation was always the same…she had a big brimmed straw hat that hung in the back porch. She would take it down, swipe her loose hair with one hand and poke it up under the crown of the hat. She would take her hoe and head for the flower garden. Grandma wore long sleeves to guard against the sun and the hat protected her face. When she was young she had scarlet fever and almost died. It left purple marks on part of her face but when you love someone you never see the scars they carry……..I thought my grandmother was beautiful……
Tomorrow we visit the barn and pig-lot.
Until then,
Essentially Esther
Mud pies were very big with my daily play. I would find an old coffee can and spoon, dig up some dirt, pump water from the well…and I was in business. I had old zinc jar caps lined with some kind of glass inside and I would attempt to make 3-layer cakes like my mom did. I studiously put the “dough” into the jar lids and placed them in the sun which of course was my “oven.” While the cake was baking I mixed up some “frosting” with thinner mud of course. I was so distraught when I tried to get my layers out of their “pans.” Of course they all cracked when drying and only came out in chunks. Not to be outdone they were piled up and “frosted” ……and then I picked some grass to go on my cake for coconut. I was so into this cake thing that I tasted some of the frosting believing it to be “chocolate”…….only when it hit my tongue did reality hit and I spit it out and kept wiping my tongue on my dress.
The front porch was my “house.” It went all across the front of grandma’s house and had a porch swing. I had several fancy dresses that had been my aunt’s and my mother’s at some time…….they were so pretty (still would be…wish I still had them)….they were finished off with pretty floral embroidery etc; the skirts flared out like the Ginger Rogers type and when I put one on and would twirl the skirt would flare out and I would be dancing in a palace with a handsome prince. Since I had no playmates at grandma’s I talked to myself constantly. This was entertaining to my furry friends and they would sit on the sidelines to watch and wonder who my “guest” was. I always had a four-footed audience.
Not far from the porch stood two fir trees in perfect line to put a metal pipe from one to the other for a gunny-sack swing. I begged and begged until Uncle Joe, my grandpa Stricklett’s brother, agreed to put one up for me since grandma didn’t mind. I remember the excitement so well. I watched every move he made with high anticipation. Finally he had it up and tested the rope to make sure it wouldn’t break with my weight but I couldn’t reach the swing to get on. That was remedied with two cement blocks stacked together. He had filled the gunny-sack with straw so it took a while before it quit sticking me when I hopped on but I didn’t mind. I had that old sack full of straw mulched down to powder by the time summer was over. I loved that swing.
Below the front of the house were a series of terraces that were planted in roses and hollyhocks. Steps went all the way down to the dirt road which was lined with lilacs. The scent in Springtime was unbelievable. When I tired of other play I would pick blooms off of the hollyhocks, and get some tooth-picks from grandma. Nothing was ever wasted at grandma’s house so now that I think back on it I’m surprised that she let me have them……however…..I would use the full blooms inverted for the skirts, run a toothpick down into the stem of it and on the other end put a bud for the head. Another toothpick run through would serve as arms. I thought this was my own invention but in talking with friends these years since I find it was a common pass time for little girls. It seems ballroom dances and hollyhocks gravitated together. A few years ago I planted holly hocks in my flower garden and I never look at them without thinking of grandma and the many hours I spent with her.
She loved flowers and spent much of her day digging and planting, pulling weeds or hauling water to them in large buckets. Of course I always tagged along when grandma came outside to work. Her preparation was always the same…she had a big brimmed straw hat that hung in the back porch. She would take it down, swipe her loose hair with one hand and poke it up under the crown of the hat. She would take her hoe and head for the flower garden. Grandma wore long sleeves to guard against the sun and the hat protected her face. When she was young she had scarlet fever and almost died. It left purple marks on part of her face but when you love someone you never see the scars they carry……..I thought my grandmother was beautiful……
Tomorrow we visit the barn and pig-lot.
Until then,
Essentially Esther
