A New Craft ??????

Imagine my surprise this morning when , on the front page of one of the sections of the Houston Chronicle, I found an article that describes in detail how to make a felt Christmas ornament - complete with a "Sewing Primer" which describes in detail how to do a blanket stitch!!!



Duh -- hello folks! Where have you been for the last fifty plus years? My son, (I won't tell his age but he draws social security if that tells you anything) saids "Mom, we used to make those in grade school!"

Makes me wonder how many other things folks don't remember - like my sweet mother-in-law and my grandmother Jordan ("Ma") sitting in their rocking chairs crocheting and discussing the events of the day. And the beautiful handmade pieces they created - doilies, baby blankets, tableccloths and bedspreads - yes, I sais bedspreads!

Or my mom with her embroidery needle flying to work bautiful designs om dish towels, pillow cases, or dresser scarfs - these memories are locked in securely in my mind....And what about quilting - first piecing the blocks, then setting them together and putting them into the frames io quilt.

First the frames had to be let down from the ceiling where they were suspended
with binders twine. Then the lining had to be put in, actually sewed to the frame in large overcasting stitches. Then the batting had to be placed ever so carefully over the lining. In even my Granny's later years, batting could be bought by the yard or by the roll. Long before this, it was corded into bats about 6'" by4".
Imagine making enough of these to cover a bed size quilt lining!! Not to mention actually quilting the quilt, which involved stitching through all 3 layers with small stitches - p
referabl.y 10 to 13 stitches per inch. Now THERE was a craft to write home about!!

Speaking of "writing home", I have a letter from my Granny to her parents . Mr. and Mrs S. C. Hager, dated March 8, 1912. And I quote, "Well Mama. I have 9 sweet little chicks. They are shure pretty. I had 10 and the hog tuned the coop over and killed one , and broke up one hen that would have hatched next week, I was shure mad." This letter bore the complete address
of mr S. C Hager, Corn Hill, Texas and the postage was 2 cents. My, my, how times change!!

Enough "til next time - - - Nanny





s

More memories of school days- - -

Remembering school days brought back a bunch of things . . . .

How about autograph books Remember them?? They were passed around from friend to friend to write some thing to remember them by. Some of the standard, AND GOOD ONES, were
First comes love, then comes marriage,
Then comes Joyce with a baby carriage.
(This was the usual order of events back then!)

Another - May you have a wonderful life with just enoughclouds to make a beautiful sunset,

A favorite uncle (Uncle Chancy) summed it all pretty well when he wrote:

Well, kid, life is real and not a rage
So calm yourself and act your age!

(I find myself reviewing this good advice sometimess - even now - after all these years have gone by.)

School Days, School Days -

When I was a kid, many, many, many years ago, there was an old song that went like this:

School days , school days, dear old golden rule days;
Reading and writing and 'rithmetic taught to the tune of a hickory stick.
You were my bashful barefoot beau - I was your queen in calico;
I rode on your sled. I love you, Joe; when we were a couple of kids!

Now in the little two room school house I attended, there were 2 teachers - Miss Faye and Miss Frances. Miss Faye's husband was indeed named "Joe", but Miss Frances' was called Claudie.
Sooooooo, when we sang above mentioned song Miss Faye sang out loud and clear. "I love you,
Joe". Not to be outdone Miss Frances chimed in with "I Love you, Claudie", then they would both almost collapse with laughter.

Yes, this really happened and I look back fondly remembering these 2 young teachers
proclaiming their love in such a happy and meaningful way!!!!

(Picture shown is site of old schoolhouse)

Here I am again!!

SWIFTLY CAME SEPTEMBER



by Joyce King Eddlemon



Swiftly came September, lingered just awhile;

Every day as precious as a baby's smile.



Swift the years are passing - chapters of our life-

Happiness and sadness; peaceful times and strife

Woven all together to form a tapestry

Of golden threads, and silver, for all the world to see.



Swift my thoughts turn backward

To a by-gone time;

Memories grow more mellow

As a well-aged wine.



Happy times and laughter,

Loved ones young and old

Blend to form a treasure

More rare than finest gold.



Walk with me, beloved. back to yesterday;

Savor all the joys of life lived in a simpler way.

Know as down the road of life each footstep that you take,

Each song you sing, each joy you bring tomorrows' memories make.



(Written for Skip,Beth, Sue & Ann - my personal masterpieces-

and for Jim, Roy and Fred who brouht much happiness.)

Summer's almost over

Whenever I see all the ads about kid's clothes and school supplies, it reminds me again of how MUCH things have changed. When school was about to begin back in the olden days, preparations of a different kind went into effect. Living in the country, a lot of our shopping was done by mail from catalogs like Sears and Wards. Amazingly, these companies not only showed available fabrics in nice color pages, but included swatches of the actual fabrics in the catalog.

That's when the fun began! My mom and I sat down together to pick out which fabrics I wanted new school dresses made from. This is the part I have never under stood and still don't. I could pick out a picture of the way I wanted a dress made, and Mother somehow knew how much fabric to order and how to cut a pattern like the picture of the dress I selected. As I recall, I got three new school dresses - can't imagine how in the world my parents paid for them in those hard depression days. And how did she manage to make her own pattern just from looking at a picture??

She was very creative - later, in Junior High School there as a craze to have a white shirt
with names of friends written all over them. You bet I had one, only mine was embroidered. Then for the junior high picnic at the end of school most of the girls were by then wearing shorts which my folks were not too crazy about. So - Mother to the rescue!! She made not only me but my best girl friend a short one piece playsuit with a striped collar and cuffs -And a skirt to match the collar and cuffs with buttons all down the front. We thought we were really dressed up, and had a marvelous time. (Incidentally, this picnic was at Sylvan Beach - anyone out there remember Sylvan Beach?? ) Or Burbank Jr. High?? I had a lot of fun in school and to this day love to smell Crayolas.

I"m sort of mixing old school days like the early grades with later fun of Junior High. We used to get new readers signed out to us and that was always such an exciting day. The big problem here was that I usually had mine all read by the time we had lessons in them . Maybe that is why my house today looks like a second hand bookstore. Oh well, and all of our kids love to read, too!

A funny incident happened when Mother took me to register at Burbank. My mom was little and cute and we waited and waited as other parents went in with their kids, until finally she got up nerve to ask why we could not go in. A very embarrassed student in charge of letting people in, apologized and explained she thought Mother was one of the new students. Lots of memories - - -

Good to get together!

Well, reunions are over, for awhile. Next one is sort of my immediate family, although anyone is welcome, so come on over. It is Labor Day weekend, very low key after these two big ones, but still dear to my heart. September 7 was my Navy Man"s birthday and since he passed on at age 46, it is hard for me to imagine his being an old white haired man. He would be 85 this year. But one thing for sure, he would be a good-looking 85. Pictures shown in this post are when he was 17 and just joined Navy, then when we were married for 1 week -ages 18 and 20.

The reunions were great - first his folks at the Swertner community center, Must have been
45 or 50 people there, but that is a small crowd considering in the "good old days" there might be 100 plus. They went to a river or lake and camped out for 2 or 3 days. This reunion started 78 years ago, and back then most of the family were farmers or ranchers and had sizable families sso the numbers added up quickly. I thought I was the oldest one at his reunion but come to find out a cousin , Clovis' husband, is 87. . It is a far cry from years ago - even when I was new to the family, when we had singing, and games and barbecuing and pranks galore. Now we meet in air conditioning comfort, visit, eat, and go home. But it is still great bonding . . .

Then on to my granny's reunion. Not very many this year-think my daughter counted 30 odd . But such good hugs and remembering and food - oh my!!! Of course I delighted in showing off my new twin great grandaughters , almost 9 months old. They live in North Caro;ina so it was their first trip to Texas. Aren't they something special? And good babies - laugh all the time - hardly ever cry unless they see their mom fixing their bottles!! Of course everyone had to show kids and grandkids pictures of weddings, new babies, etc. Did I mention that my oldest great grandaughter went with us. She is 16 now - beautuful girl, and just seems perfectly content going along on one of these famuly "remember when? trips. I babysat this one wuite a bit when she was a baby and I guess we "bonded" as they say nowadays. We have a special relationalship.

Second day of Granny's reunion was in a small town not too far from Georgetown, and on the way over we drove by where the 2 room school I (and some of my cousins) attended as little kids, was located, The building no longer stands but it was fun just seeing the road and location and all. Also drove by where our mail box was located, probably 1/2 mile from where the farmhouse stood. I thought it must be 2 or 3 miles when I was 7 or 8 years old. Drove by the little lane that led up to Granny's farmhouse, so we crammed a lot of mememories into the day. Another great day of visiting and eating and reluctant goodbyes for this time.

Many thanks to my youngest (I usually say my "baby") for taking time off from her job on Friday and Monday to get us there and back and to my oldest daughter for making the 1100+ mile trip from North Carolina to be there.

Again...Seems Like A Small Town

Well, I'm seriously thinking of throwing this computer out the window! Every time I think I am catching on a little, something really DUMB happens - - like I type a nice blog, and suddenly it just disappears into thin air - WHOOF!!, 'bye 'bye, so long!! I wanted briefly to tell you about this little neighborhood I live in. Remember it is on the edge (next street over is out of the city limits) of a city of over two million. Anyhow after I enjoyed an MRI on my back a few days ago, I went by the post office and someone called to me and said "Hi, didn't I just see you coming out of the Y?","Yep, you sure did".. (I exercise at our local Y a couple or three days a week, with a younger friend - she is only 78.)

Then I just had to run by Whataburger and get some biscuit and sausage gravy for breakfast. (This is a southern staple food - can't live without it! ) Well, I have told you before about Dorothy, the 79 year old waitress at Whataburger. So she came over and greeted me, and I started to get uo to get some coffee, and she said," I'll get it for you" So she brings me a cuppa and plops herself down in my booth, and we just a had a good old visit..

Then I go to our neighborhood store the next day, and they have published a dollar off milk with a $10.00 purchase. I hand the cashier, Mary, my coupon, and she says "Oh honey, this was through yesterday!" I knew that; I just forgot what day it was. She says "Take it over to the courtesy booth and tell you want your dollar."

I said, "Are you kidding?" She said no, so I go over and get in line, and I guess I was too slow for her, she comes up, takes the coupon out of my hand, and reaches around someone at the window and said "Give her a dollar." And they do. . . It is amazing what this white hair does for you sometime.

No more time tonight - have to leave early tomorrow for Central Texas (God's Country) for the afore mentioned reunions so must get my beauty sleep - hee hee!

Cleaning house

I told myself I just HAD to clean house today, and as it happened I've been running the streets instead. But just thinking about mopping the kitchen brought back memories of "scrubbing", not "mopping" the kitchen floor.I'm talking about old floors without linoleum - just plain old "boards". Used soapy water, probably left over from washing clothes, and poured some on the floor and I mean scrubbed just like that old broom was a scrub brush.

Sure left some pretty clean floors after you rinsed it and swept the water out the door several times.

At Granny's farm whew we lived until I was about 4, we had running water in the kitchen. No marvel of plumbing - just gravity. When the windmill was working right it pumped water into a large elevated tank up on a platform. So turn on the faucet and gravity did the rest.

Hot water was another matter. We had to heat water for dishes and such in a big, old tea kettle , except in summer. Then we would fill a big no. 2 washtub with water from the well, set it out in that Central Texas sun, and I guarantee after a hot, sunny day you had to cool it down to take a bath.

When I was a little girl I loved playing in the rain. Mother and I called it a "'shower bath", and as soon as it began to rain I was pestering her to go take a "shower bath".

When rain puddled up a bit in low spots and big rain drops fell into those spots they formed a funny little splash we called "frogs going to school" Ever hear that expression????

Is age a state of mind??

Today after I enjoyed an MRI on my back, I dropped by Wataburger to get some breakfast. Well, as fate would have it, they stop serving breakfast at ll:00, and it was straight up ll:O0. So I opted for a -what else - a Whataburger. Isn't the first time I/ve had a hamburger for breakfast.

Anyhow there is this delightful young lady who works in there, and I sat amazed as she scooted about serving condiments and making sure everyone was o.k. Curiosity finally got ne and I asked her how old she is, and she informed me she will be 78 in August. Mind you, she didn't say "I'm 77," but proudly proclaimed she will soon be 78. No, I'm not kiddin". She has been there for who knows how long and further endeared herself when she remembered my best friend, Fred, who said his last goodbyes April 23. You see, there is this group of fellows from our church who used to meet there for coffee once a month - FREE coffee, I might add, and Fred was one of these guys.

Another example is one of the "girls" who meet at my house the first Thursday each month to "sew". Have to admit we get more talking done than sewing but every now and then someone will sit down at the quiltng frame and quilt a block or two. Anyhow, there is this one friend, Vi, who will be 96 in December. (Did I also mention that Fred would have been 96 in December??)Vi is something else - more ways than one. She just quit driving last year and has sold her home and moved into a small and very nice apartment. It probably is no accident that this apartment has a great window - perfect place for a quilting frame - and Vi can sit and quilt and watch folks go by on the sidewalk.

Anyhow here is a story Vi tells about when she was a little girl :

"Let me tell you about an incident that occurred when I was about 3 years old.
For some unknown reason I had a habit of poking my finger into any hole I found.In those days women wore dresses to their ankles. Grandmother and I went out to gather eggs and one old hen had started laying in a deep feed trough. Grandmother was a short little woman and she leaned 'way over to get the eggs. She had a small rip in the skirt of her dress and- - you guessed it!! Little Vi poked her finger in the hole. Grandmother was so startled she went head first into the feed trough with her feet waving wildly in the air. I had to call Mother to come pull Grandmother out of the feed trough. Boy - was she upset!!!

Can't you just picture this?? More later!!

Reunions' Coming Up...!

I mentioned before that we have a large extended family. Every July we have a whopper of a reunion. It all began when Granny said one year

, "Why don't you give me a birthday party in the park?" Her birthday is July 30, and so we did - and still are!

We meet July 26 at the Cameron Road Church of Christ in Austin and have fellowship and an evening meal, continuing into Sunday, July 27, at the Bartlett Community Center. We owe a BIG thank you to Velma and David Pierce for long hours in arranging all this. And talk about food - oh my!!! We also have our own worship service, as so many of us are members of the Church of Christ.

My grandparents were John Marion Emerson, (2-01-1872 - 4-05-1929), and Bertha Nancy Ellen Hager, (7-30-1882 - 7-13-1972). They were married June 21, 1902. They had 8 great kids - Velma, Viola, Blanche, Evie, Edna, Earl, Eulamae (Toots) and John, Jr. - our parents, grandparents, great grandparents and, yes, great great grandparents (with a few more "greats" probably added in).

This same weekend my daughters, great grandaughters and I will attend my Navy Man's reunion at Swertner, Texas. This would be the John Delashment Carlile reunion - 68th year.My Navy man, and the love of my life was James Lowell King (1923-1969) It is great to still keep in touch with his folks.

The pictures are of Grandaddy and Granny - John & Bertha, and the old Emerson farmhouse between Walburg and Georgetown, Texas.

Enough family history - now you know !

Long time ago

Trying to begin talking about old times brings so much to mind! And being new to blogginng I"m not sure where to begin.

Today is Friday and usually I volunteer at a nursing home helping with Bingo and visiting residents. Been doing this for several years now. My mother was in this facility and the sister of someone who became my best friend.

I have a quilt in my PVC frame in the process (sl0w) of being quilted. It is a Monkey Wrench pattern and I really need to get it finished. My mother gave me this quilt top before she passed on at age of 91,. so it means a lot to me. Sometimes I start a project and follow through to completetion, but simetimes I drag my feet, as people used to say. Have several other quilts needing bindings, labeling and - well, you know how it goes. I sort of collect quilts - - not the fancy, elaborate ones )although I admire these greatly. I have one my great aunt , who was born in 1856, gave me when I was just a little tot. Also have one my mother and her sisters made for my beloved Granny, Bertha Nancy Ellen Hager Emerson, for Mother's Day, 1934.

I reside in a suburb of Houston in a very comfortable, and homey house witha badly, spoiled 11 year old cat named Amy. She is something else!! Taight porcelain doll-making for years and had a neat little studio now occupied by my son and his 2 Siamese kittens. Love roses (picture from my yard), pot luck dinners, grandkids visits, cooking, traveling, and you name it - I like it!!

Does it seem to anyone else that time goes by faster every year?? Spring came - got marrieed to a great US Navy man, had kids, was happy - - them summer; kids growing uo - high school days, dating, getting their feet wet with first j0bs, etc. Then THEY get married, had those adorable babies, bought cars, homes, had problems (didn't we all?) Then, all of a sudden, swiftly came September and Autumn is almost here again. Where did the years go??

By the way, talking about Houston, do any of you remember Western Union on Franklin Street downtown; one of my early jobs. And John Markou's Cafe right next door - great food!!

Speaking of food , here's an easy one for you:

1 large cherry Jello

2 cups boiling water

1 can blueberries, in heavy or light syrup

8 oz. pkg cream cheese

8 oz. sour cream 1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

Mix hot water with Jello, stirring well. Add blueberries, Pour into 8 1/2 X ll dish and refrigerate overnight.Topping : Beat softened cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Whip it up

with mixer until very creamy. Spread on top of Jello. Chill well.

Let me know how you like it. Took one to a covered dish lunchein Tuesday and they ate almost all of it - was hoping there would be a bit left for me.

Better go - here's Amy wanting her supper!!!