HOW MOM USED TO COOK AND MORE

My mom used to cook with an old coal burning cook stove, except she used corn cobs as they were always available and free.

The style of this one is similar to the one in our farm kitchen but not this ornate, and it was white except for the cooking surface.

The fire box was on the left side and we had a bushel basket of cobs next to it. The cobs were kept in a shed behind the house and it was often my job to fill the basket and bring it in. It wasn't my favorite job as mice loved to live in the pile and somehow would sneak into the basket without me seeing it. Eventually it would show up in the house and the hunt was on, along with mouse traps. I never learned how to start a fire.

On the right end was a reservoir for water so that there was warm water as long as the stove was hot.

This picture shows a reservoir lid open.

It didn't hold a lot of water but at least enough to wash up with warm water without having to wait to heat some in a pan. Since we did not have indoor plumbing, there was no water heater. All we had was a cistern hand pump at the end of the big sink. Thankfully there was a drain so there was no pail to empty.

Mom never taught me how to bake in the cook stove, but she made the best bread and cakes, even angel food cakes. I don't know how she knew how to regulate the temperature for baking, but I am sure her mom taught her as well as many years of practice.

Mom would fire up the stove early in the morning during the winter as that was the only heat there was in the kitchen. We did not have a ducted furnace or thermostat. There were kerosene heaters in both dining room and living room. Heat from the chimney is all the heat that reached each bedroom upstairs. Brrrr!

But, that heat was not welcome in the hot and humid summers so most cooking and baking was done early in the morning. Air conditioning was unheard of in those days. Some old houses had a small building apart from the house that was called the summer kitchen which helped keep the main house a little cooler. 

Once the stove was hot, she made breakfast and started any baking needed for the day. By the time I was old enough to remember, we also got a propane gas stove on the other side of the kitchen and that is what I used. I loved to bake so was always making sweet things as I was born with a huge sweet tooth. I rarely cooked anything for a meal. I guess Mom always wanted to do it herself so never made a point to teach me. The only thing I remember having to do was peel potatoes and to this day I don't like to do that unless absolutely necessary.

I remember the time when Mom flew to California with her sister from Illinois to see their mother for the last time as she was in a nursing home. So Dad and I were left to do all the cooking. I tried making bacon and eggs. Well, the eggs were crispy and the bacon limp. Dad tried his hand at pancakes and he called them blow - out patches (for tires) because they were pretty rubbery. But we managed to live until she came home. Dad did not like to eat out so we ate at home for every meal. I cannot remember what else we ate, but it was possibly home canned beef on potatoes. That meat was so tender and delicious. It was very handy for a quick meal, especially if unplanned company showed up at mealtime. I miss that.

Some people had a separate building to do laundry called the wash house. Water had to be heated for washing and that was done in the wash house as well. 

We had an enclosed back porch that was just outside the kitchen
and that is where the old Maytag wringer washer was used. The water was heated in an old copper boiler (wish I still had it) on the cook stove, then carried to the  porch. Most people had wringer washers back then and I heard many stories of people getting their hand and arm caught in the wringer before they were able to disengage the rollers. That was painful! I was always very careful when I used the wringer so never got caught. After I was married I also had the Maytag wringer washer for many years. A lot of diapers were washed in it.

There were no clothes dryers in those days either. Clotheslines were strung from pole to pole in the yard and the wash was hung on them with wooden clothespins like these:

         I prefer the spring type as they are easier to use.                      
 We always had to pray it didn't rain until the wash was dry. A windy day was appreciated as the clothes were much softer after flapping in the wind. Sometimes the wind was a bit too strong and a sheet could come loose and sail away.  If it started to sprinkle there was a mad dash to get it all off the line. If it wasn't completely dry, Mom strung several lines of rope clothesline from one end of the dining room to the other, tied to large nails in the wood door trim. It was a maze getting from the kitchen to the living room, walking between the wet clothes.

The wash was even hung outside in the winter where it freeze-dried as much as possible, and fingers were frozen, as well, trying to hang the wet clothes. Again, the clothes were hung in the dining room to thaw and finish drying. At least it created a lot of humidity in the house.

These are some of "the good old days" that I don't care to see again! Laundry was very intensive labor back in the day.

FLYING RADIOS

Well, actually a Radio Flyer wagon. An antique. It is the one I had as a child so it has to be more than 70 years old. I had planned to paint it years ago but never got it done (procrastination again). When I moved I really had no place to store it and knew I would never paint it, so offered it to my kids.

My son wanted it and took it back to Virginia with him. This is what he and his wife did with it this summer. I know the wagon is much happier there than it was in my garage collecting junk, dust and spider webs.

"DISH" IT OUT

This pretty little amber dish is one that my mother always used to serve pickles in. Home canned, of course! I always loved her bread and butter pickles.

I put the pencil in the picture to give a better idea what the size of the dish is. I had a hard time trying to get a picture to show the raised design all over the dish.

As far as I can see, this dish is still in perfect shape. I think it must be at least 75 years old, and maybe older, since I remember it always being there.  I wish I had a nice china cabinet to show off what old dishes I have. It isn't very many, but I also have quite a bit of crystal dishes, vases, and candle holders that I have received as gifts over the years. I don't make an effort to collect anything so my collections aren't big, but most have a memory attached to them.

DUCK, DUCK, GRAY DUCK

Did you play the game "Duck, Duck, Gray Duck" in grade school? Some say goose instead of gray duck according to Wikipedia. I do remember playing it. Wikipedia says it was played in Minnesota and is of Swedish origin. Well, we played it in Iowa too.

I don't really have a gray duck but I do have a very small collection of Mallard ducks that I started years ago. I am not really a collector of 'stuff' (recipes, yes!) so I didn't collect very many.

I didn't have very good luck taking pictures that day. So I tried again with the result below and still ended up cutting the top of the head off the fabric duck. My back was hurting at the time so didn't feel up to taking more  pictures. So deal with it! 😃

 It all started with this stuffed fabric duck. I and two friends went to a class to learn to make them. These two friends and I had annual craft sales in one of the lady's home for a few years. We each had our own type of work to sell and mine was always fabric or yarn creations.

Then I found a cross stitch pattern book with several Mallard pictures. I chose this one to make a pillow. I am so glad cross stitchers say to initial or 'sign' and add the date it was made because otherwise I would never remember. This one was done in 1984.

The next duck was found at a rummage sale a neighbor across the street had one year. There were two old wooden duck decoys.

One was much nicer than this one but they were asking $45 for it. I wanted it but not for that price! This one looks a little sad but I think it has a lot of character. And it was only $15. I love it.

This small figurine has beautiful detail. It was free! If any of you watched "Hour of Power" with Dr. Schuller many years ago, you might remember that he always had something they would give away, wanting a donation to keep the show on TV, of course, but the donation was not required to get the item. You just had to ask for one. And this is one of those.

I do have another duck but this could be any kind of duck, not a Mallard. I found this in a neat little antique/decor shop in another town several years ago. I apologize for the flash glare. Again, blame it on my back and not taking enough time to take better pictures.

The words in the frame say, " Be so happy that when other look at you they become happy, too."
Daughter Rhonda found that at a craft show in her town and it reminded her of when I was getting prepped for my hysterectomy. We were having so much fun while they did what they needed to do to get me ready. I joked with the nurses and other attendants and we all laughed so much. When each one would leave they would laugh and say we made their day.

One of the funniest things was when my daughter's phone started saying in a very loud, crazy voice, "Help me, I am stuck in your pocket and can't get out," over and over because she got a text. She had forgotten to turn the ringer off earlier. This happened when a nurse was listening to my heart and she said that was the first time a heart talked to her. We roared! I can only imagine what others outside my curtained cubicle thought of us. Here I was, having surgery for cancer, and there wasn't a sad eye in the room.

This shows the complete arrangement with the little duck. It is sitting on a wooden tray table. They make wonder, inexpensive end tables. I got mine at Walmart. They also have them in dark wood but I like the blond. It seems to 'disappear' and makes the area feel like there is more space. The picture on the wall is a counted cross stitch project I did several years ago.

This picture was taken a long time ago and yes, I still got the flash glare! When I had it framed I wanted it behind glass because my husband smoked and everything got stained from the smoke. I think you can see that I like a challenge with my needlework.

A GEM WITH NO STONE

 

My hometown is having its 125th celebration this summer and a Facebook group page was set up. People are posting old picture and telling stories of what they remember growing up there. Someone started a discussion on class rings and I remembered that I have my mother's class ring from 1927!

So I got busy and took a few pictures of this pretty ring. In the top picture I realized I had set the ring down upside down for the picture. The design on the top of the ring are supposed to be the initials of the school - OHS.

These two pictures show the year - the 2 on one side and the 7 on the opposite side.

                   The next picture shows off the filigree a little better. It is really quite a delicate ring compared to later years.                               

                                  

My mom had really small fingers compared to mine! I will admit that mine are bigger now than when I was in high school. As shown in the picture below, I could barely get it over the knuckle of my pinkie finger. And only that hand as it would not go over the knuckle on my left hand at all.

I apologize for the blurry pictures. I had an awful time holding the camera with one hand and be able to push the button to get the picture and keep the camera perfectly still at the same time. (That can't be age!)

MORE OLD THINGS

Some time ago I decluttered my jewelry drawer. I had forgotten about this small metal box and decided it should not be hiding in a drawer. It is actually darker than the pictures as I lightened them in order to see some of the design.

The above is just the lid. The lid was originally attached with a hinge to the bottom, but that broke apart at some time. I don't remember it ever being attached, so it must have happened before I came along. At least I am NOT taking the blame for this one!

Inside are a few pieces of old jewelry Mom had. I wish I knew more about the box and the jewelry. The could have been her mother's or maybe even a grandmother. I am also thinking the red brooch might have been her grandmother's, as well as the silver one. The red pin is covered with small garnets. The E pin is Mom's initial. I remember Mom getting the heart pin. This one of those 3D pins that were popular many years ago. I think Mom bought it at a home jewelry party.

My mom never knew either of her grandmothers. The only one she considered a grandmother is the second wife of her grandfather on her dad's side. Her other grandmother died when her mom was 2 years old, her dad remarried and then he died when she was 7. She was raised by the step mother and her second husband. Maybe  my grandmother was given her mother's box by her dad before he died? I guess we will never know. There are many mysteries. Some get answers if you dig long enough, but I don't think this one will.

There was another item in the box, but you will have to wait until the next post to find out what it is.

AN OLD FASHION VALENTINE

 I found these two old valentines among my mothers things. Unfortunately, I do not know what year these were made, but would guess from the 1920's to 1930's.

These are 3-D cards. I am holding this one open below. It is hard to tell in the picture but you can get some idea with the shadows and how different parts are in different places on the card..

 The second card is sweet romance.

 Opened.

I wonder what the significance is of the train behind the floral heart. Does that seem odd? Maybe it represents the train of love? It does have a heart on the front of the engine.

This picture is to show the placement of each part of the picture when opened. I had to hold each part as the glue has disappeared from several parts. This also shows the accordion folds of the flower at the front.

WISHING YOU ALL A HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Remember to tell your loved ones that they ARE loved, not only on Valentine's Day, but every day.

MORE MEMORIES OF THE GROVE

In another area of the grove, my dad built a lazy susan picnic table. I don't know why he chose that spot as that area was more dense and had lots of weeds and undergrowth there, which also meant more bugs and mosquitoes. Swatting bugs at a picnic in no 'picnic'!

I wish I had a good picture of that table but I didn't find one. Here are two pictures of one of the picnics we had out there. Look at all those weeds!

Notice all the women have scarves on their heads and most of the men had caps, but then farmers always had caps on. It was too long ago for me to remember the reason for the scarves. It might have been protection from bird droppings? Or maybe to keep the bugs out of the hair, or it was just chilly out there.

Notice the bench made with two large old wooden wagon wheels and planks. There is a large log stump standing in front for a table and a metal picnic basket sitting on top of it.

Now, about that lazy susan table. It was also made from an old wooden wagon wheel plus the hub and axle. The axle was planted into the ground so that the wheel would turn. Dad covered that with wood to become the lazy susan part of the table. We could just spin the wheel around to get to the dish, catsup bottle, or whatever we wanted. Around the outside of the wheel, Dad used planks to make a stationary ring where we put our plates and cups so we could eat. You can see some old chairs being used, but Dad also had pieces of logs cut to chair seat height that we could sit on. I thought both the table and bench were unique ideas. I don't know if he thought them up himself or if he had seen something like it somewhere. It was fun, except for the mosquitoes!

At first I was thinking this is the same bench that was in the grove. But when I look at the other one, this is made a little different. The one in the grove seems to have planks on both sides of the back board, so you could sit on either side. I think the one by the house only had one seat, and this back board is wider than the other one. The wheels might be smaller on this one too. Wish my memory was better, or maybe that I had paid more attention at the time. I think we take things for granted when we are kids.

Dad didn't make a lot of things that I can remember. He was too busy farming for one thing. I do remember watching him make a ring for me out of a dime. I wish I still had that ring.

DOWN MEMORY LANE - CHILDHOOD PLAYHOUSE

Memories. . . . . . .

Growing up on a farm with a large grove, I and my friends often played in the grove. Sometimes there were vines hanging from the trees that were strong enough to swing on. I have no idea what kind of vines these were. One day my girlfriend and her older brother decided to make a playhouse in the grove. There was a small junk pile in there, where Mom and Dad threw things that couldn't be burned. Among the items were old metal tractor seats that looked something like this:

And there were old seat springs that were something like this:

Those became our sofa and chairs in our playhouse. We would find old aluminum coffee pots, teakettles, and I don't remember what else. We made 'walls', or at least marked where the walls would be, by pushing short forked tree branches into the ground and then laying long, narrow branches in the forks. I am pretty sure the older brother came up with that idea. My memory no longer tells me what else was in this playhouse, but we did have some fun with it. Maybe it was more fun just making it than it was playing in it. This just shows what kids can do with old junk and some imagination to make their own playthings. Those were the 'good old days.' That was before television, computers, cell phones, WIIs, Playstation, and such. We made our own fun.

RESEMBLANCE?

When my daughters were here, they were going through some of my old photo albums. I showed them a recently found picture of my mom when she was a teenager, and I said I thought the oldest daughter looked a little like her and the youngest daughter couldn't see it. We always say the oldest looks like their dad's sister, and she does, including some mannerisms.

Later the younest daughter sent these pictures as you see them, side by side. The girl on the left is my oldest daughter and on right is my mother. My youngest was totally shocked! I didn't realize it was this close either. What do you think?

Oldest daughter ---------------Mom

The old colored photos are deteriorating. Who knew, at the time, that the colors would change over the years?

AREN'T WE PRETTY

I think this must be a memento from WWII.

The design on each blade of the fan is balsa wood and has been intricately cut, I am guessing by hand, since they aren't perfectly shaped. It is hard to tell in the picture, but each of the letters is cut out, as well as little darker spaces in each part of the design, including the little arrow shapes at the bottom.

And the painting, which looks like watercolors, has been done by hand as well. The deep blue 'squares' is a length of ribbon that holds the blades together so that they can fan out or be closed.

WHEATLESS BREAD - 1918

Here is a recipe found in the newspaper archives from 1918. Think WW1. It seems there was an acute white flour shortage at the time, so these recipes were suggested.  Barley flour is not gluten free so be aware of that.  These recipes do sound good and I will have to give them a try. How about you?

I wasn't even sure barley flour would be easy to find these days so I googled it, and there are suppliers, so you might be able to find it in your stores, or at least online if you are interested in trying it. I also found the following information about barley flour at this link:  http://bakingbites.com/2008/01/what-is-barley-flour/

Barley flour is just what it sounds like: a non-wheat flour made from grinding whole barley. It’s a popular alternative to wheat flour because, unlike many non-wheat flours, it contains some gluten. This obviously doesn’t make it a good choice for those with celiac’s, who cannot tolerate gluten, but it does mean that it is an excellent option for more conventional bakers looking to expand their skills by working with alternative flours.

Barley flour has a mild, but very slightly nutty, flavor the complements both regular and whole grain flours. You can substitute it into a regular recipe for up to 1/2 of the ordinary flour without compromising the texture of the baked good (with the exception of very delicate/sensitive baked goods, like angel food cake, that rely on the presence of a precise amount of flour to work well). In fact, because it has a low gluten content, it can actually help to tenderize baked goods while still lending enough gluten to the recipe to allow it to rise properly. When compared to regular all-purpose flour, there are some nutritional benefits to barley. It has slightly fewer calories and more than 4 times the fiber of all-purpose. It also has slightly more fiber than whole wheat flour.

It is a good flour to substitute into quick breads, muffins and cookies for a little whole grain twist and is an easy ingredient to play around with in the kitchen in general. You can find it at just about any natural foods store (Whole Foods, etc.) in the baking or cereal aisle.

TIPS FROM 1920's

When I was recently scanning through hometown newspaper archives searching for things about ancestors, I ran across the following column with several helpful hints for wives.

These are quite frugal and simple, and worth a try today. I like the tip toward the bottom about the small fire shovel. Trying to find one of those may not be so frugal today, but is one to keep in mind. Evidently my mother had not read the tip on hanging clothes outside in cold weather!

I hope you can read these okay here. If not, leave a comment about it and I will type them out for you. I would also love to see some comments on what you think of these tips.

FLYING HIGH

July 1 already?? Holy bejeebers! Where did the first half of the year go? For that matter, where did the last 10 years go? Zip-zip-zip, just like the NASCAR racers as they zip-zip-zip past the camera so fast that they are just a blur.

Around 1957 or 1958 my mother and her sister from southern Illinois flew to California together. I remember riding to Chicago with Mom and her brother-in-law, where we went to my cousin's home. She is the daughter of Mom's sister, who met as there. Then Mom and her sister got on a plane at O'Hare airport, and went to visit their parents in San Mateo, CA. I remember we ate over the many-laned freeway! Yes, there was a restaurant built above the highway.

I don't remember details, but I think Grandma might have been in the nursing home, the same one as Grandpa was in, by that time. So Mom and her sister were going to see them both for the last time, as Grandma died in 1959 and Grandpa in 1961. When they were there, they must have gone to their house and went through things before selling it, because Mom brought home a braided rug that Grandma had made. And that is probably when she got some of the old pictures. But you know, at that time I was busy in high school, and boys, and concerned about my own life, that I did not pay much attention to what was happening with adults.

One thing I do remember is that Dad and I had to 'batch' it while she was gone. I had never really cooked a meal before. I loved to bake and that was the extent of my cooking at the time. And Dad didn't really know how to cook either. He tried making pancakes one day, and he called them blow out tire patches. They were a bit, well a lot, rubbery. :o) I tried frying bacon and eggs. The eggs were crisp and the bacon soggy. I don't remember what else we cooked or ate, but I am sure it was not so great.

And speaking of food, below is the breakfast menu on the flight that Mom and Aunt Clara took. I know this was the first airplane ride Mom had, and probably the only one. The general public, unless rich, did not fly as much back then as we think nothing of doing today. So it was a big deal. Planes were a lot different then, too.

Can you remember not too many years ago when you got some fairly good meals on flights that were included in the price of the ticket? Now you are lucky if you get a meal at all, or else if you want to eat, you had to pay for it on the plane and it isn't cheap!

Back in the 1950's it looks like meals were quite a deal, even with a menu!

Interesting menu? I had no idea what Scrambled Eggs Hampshire or Potatoes Colbert were, do you? So I did a google search and did not find very much, but this is what I did find --

Eggs Hampshire is found on the menu of Benedict's Restaurants in Greenwood Village, Colorado, for $9.50. It is described as scrambled farm fresh eggs, diced ham, cream cheese and chives.

Interesting. I have never used cream cheese and chives in scrambled eggs, but it does sound good.

I couldn't find a recipe or description for Potatoes Colbert, but did find a Colbert sauce.  There is a recipe for Chateaubriand with clarified Colbert sauce. For that, small potatoes cut in olive shape are placed on each end of the meat. These potatoes are fried in butter. And then the Colbert sauce is poured over all.

The recipe for Colbert sauce is made with white wine, espagnole, lots of butter, and parsley and lemon juice. So what is espagnole, you ask? So did I! It seems to be one of the 5 important sauces used in French cooking. (la-de-dah). It is a brown sauce, and seems to be made similar to gravy using the pan drippings from browned meat. There are videos on how to make it, but they run well over 10 minutes and I am not going to take the time to wait for them to download and then sit and watch for another 10-15 minutes. I don't ever plan to make it so no reason to waste my time. But if that is something that interests you, please take a look.

I can't imagine anything so fancy being served on an airplane, can you? This was in the day before microwaves, so I can't imagine how well that sauce and the eggs stood up to time between cooking and being served on the plane, but they must have figured it out.

Times have sure changed, haven't they?

STUDY HALL

This is the high school study hall I was in all four years of high school. This picture was taken in 1923. My mother used this room! She graduated in 1927 so this is just before she was there. At least she is not in this picture. Her younger brothers and sister also attended this school. It was built in 1903 and used until 1985. I graduated in 1961. It has since been torn down.

The desks are the same, and organized exactly the same, including the blackboards along the wall on the left.

Freshmen always sat in the row closest to the doors (left side here). Sophomores sat in the next row, juniors in the third, and the seniors in the last row on the right. Our little library was in the front of the room, on the right side. That is where I saw my first Good Housekeeping magazine and fell in love with it. I have been a continuous subscriber ever since!

We did not have lockers to keep books and stuff in. The only lockers were in the sports team dressing rooms. (I think, since I did not play sports) All our text books and notebooks, pencils, pens and ink, erasers, glue/paste were kept on the small shelf under the desk top. They didn't hold much. Our coats and jackets hung on hooks all along the wall outside the study hall, the wall behind the blackboards.

Oh, does this bring back memories! It seems odd, but when I was going to school, I never pictured my mother going there so many years ahead of me! After all these years it is finally dawning on me that my mother, aunt and uncles, all tread the same hallways and many stairs that I did many years later.

LISTENING TO THE RADIO

I guess I took this picture because of the kitty on the chair. But what I want you to see is the old console radio. It was a Philco. And the clock on top is an electric chime clock. I still have the clock, but the chimes don't work anymore. The room they are in is the dining room.

That radio was always on before we got television. I used to come home from school and lay on the floor in front of it, listing to Roy Rogers show, Gene Autry show, The Shadow, Fibber McGee and Molly, Queen for a Day, and many more. Soap operas started on the radio before moving to television, and I always listened to those too. That is where I first got hooked on the soaps. As a teenager I listened to the Top 20 - the most popular songs for the week.

The door in the picture is the stairway to the bedrooms upstairs. Those were narrow steps as I remember. And unheated, of course. In the winter time you hurried to get to the bedroom where it was slightly warmer.

COOKSTOVE

Going through some old albums I found this one picture of the old cob burning cook stove we had in the kitchen. Mom also had a more modern gas range on the other side of the kitchen, but she used the old cookstove quite often, especially in the winter as it warmed the kitchen up. There was no heat in the kitchen otherwise. The house had two large kerosene burning space heaters, one in the living room and one in the dining room. The stovepipes went up through the floor of the two bedrooms upstairs, then out through the roof. In the floor around the stove pipe was something like a register. It had holes in it that allowed the rising heat from the heater to come up into the bedroom and provided a little bit of heat up there. Not much, but it helped. They could be closed if the rooms were not used.

It still amazes me how women were able to bake accurately in these stoves. They had to know how many cobs or how much wood to put in the firebox to keep the oven at the right temperature. Mom heated the wash water for laundry in an old copper boiler on top of the cookstove. There was also a water reservoir on the right end, so as long as there was fire in the stove we had warm water. The reservoir is behind me and the dog, Taffy. That is the last dog I had on the farm before we moved to town in 1961. And Mom was still using that cookstove until then as well. She may have been the last one in the area to still use one.

On the other side of that window is an enclosed porch. That is where the old wringer Maytag washing machine and rinse tub sat. And there was a chest freezer at the other end. Before we got the freezer Mom rented a freezer space in the local town locker inside the butcher shop. They used that mostly when they would butcher a whole beef or hog. Town was only a couple miles away, but what an inconvenience having to run to town to get the frozen meat for a meal. That freezer also held the home butchered chickens

SCRAPBOOKING - AS IT USED TO BE

This poor tattered scrapbook is one my mother did in 1941. It is actually a diary with pictures and mementos of the trip my parents took to Washington and California to visit relatives. They made quite a tour of it as they came back to Iowa via New Mexico and toured the Carlsbad Caverns. They were gone from December 3, 1940 through January 16, 1941. I am sure it must have been the first big trip either one had ever taken. As a kid I was always a bit miffed that they didn't wait until I was born and old enough to be aware of the sights to take such a trip!

This is the first page. You can see how badly it has deteriorated over the years. The car in the picture is the one they drove on this trip - a 1936 Chevy coupe. She wrote that they drove a total of 6,243 miles on this trip. Can you imagine? It is probably a good thing they went in the winter, as the desert would have been unbearable without air conditioning in the hot summer!

Mom kept record of a lot of details which makes it very interesting reading. I just wish she had written in ink and not pencil as some of that has faded out as well. And you can see that some of the pictures have fallen out over the years too.

These are pictures of my dad's cousin and family in Washington. That was their first place to visit.

As a kid, this was my favorite page! This old postcard would meow when you pressed the red dot under the cat's chin. That no longer works. I guess either I or my kids wore it out. Look at those bright green eyes!

I guess one of these days I should transcribe what Mom wrote so the story can be preserved. Add that to my long list of 'to-do' items. Oh, why didn't I think to do this years ago??