Precious Memories.....

When I was growing up, we spent a lot of our summer days at my Mamaw and Papaw's house. They lived just out the road from us, so it was easy for us to just walk out there. Papaw worked in the mines, so he was gone during the day. As I grew older, me and one of my cousins who was the same age as me, would spend Friday nights at Mamaw...Papaw had passed away by then. My Mamaw....without a doubt....made the best biscuits in the whole wide world. They weren't very big...but oh, they were the most delicious things....would just melt in your mouth....oh, and her fried chicken...she would buy chicken breast, and cut them up into small strips (this was long before chicken tenders were popular)....and fry them....and serve them warm with those hot biscuits....oh, how I miss her cooking...but I don't think as much as she does doing the cooking!!!

I want to share some more of my favorite memories about being with Mamaw:

~~~Grape Kool-Aid made in a mason jar and put in the fridge...served to us ice cold with vanilla cream cookies

~~~Ice cream cones....she would give us ice cream and put it in a cone.....to a kid that was sooooo special

~~~Water gravy - if this makes no sense....some people make their gravy with milk...some water....I think because of the depression, Mamaw made hers with water....and it was

D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S

~~~Strawberry cobbler - I promise all my memories aren't food related...but I have never known of a better cook than my Mamaw....well, maybe except for Pappy's Mom

~~~Wringing head off of a chicken - I remember once as a kid her wringing the neck of a chicken and watching it flop around in the yard....that's not such a pleasant memory.... ;)

~~~Baby chicks - Papaw and Mamaw raised chickens (hence the above memory).....and they were in coops in the back yard. I loved those little baby chickens....especially the black ones, which were rare!!!

~~~Hamburgers - Mamaw used to fry the best hamburgers. When my cousin and I would spend Friday night, she would fix us hamburgers for lunch on Saturday...yum, yum, yum!!!

~~~Speaking of cousin.....like all kids do, we "fussed and fought". Once, we were mad at each other about something...and Mamaw made us hug one another and make up...and tell each "I LOVE YOU".....neither of us wanted to do that, and I wasn't too fond of Mamaw right at that moment...but, looking back....what a wonderful lesson it taught me....and I'll probably use it on the boys one of these days!!!

~~~June bugs - I hope PETA, or whoever is in charge of "animal cruelty" doesn't come arrest, or fine me, for this admission....but Mamaw used to give us a string and we would tie it around one leg of a June bug....and then let it go and let it fly around, like a kite!!! This is so comical to me now, almost 50 years later!! But, the poor June bug probably so no humor in it, when his leg got pulled off from the string....sorry to all the June bugs that I caused to be 3-legged!!!

~~~Papaw had cattle.....he watered them in a big old bathtub, and he would let me fill the tub up with water for them. Well...there happened to be an electric fence between me and the tub...and....well, let's just that since water and electricity don't mix....it wasn't a good idea to let the water from the hose run over the fence....Papaw thought it was funny....me, not so much!!!

~~~They say if you ever see a snake, that there's usually another one close by...it's mate. Well...Papaw killed a black snake that came too close to the porch, and the very next day, killed what we figured was it's mate. I'll never forget this....he hung it on the fence, because there's an old saying that if you hang it on the fence, it'll bring rain...and what farmer doesn't like rain!!!

~~~Porch swings and gliders - There were both at their house...and we wore them out!!! I would love to someday have the ones that are still on Mamaw's front porch!!!

~~~ Mamaw had mimosa trees in her yard....if you know anything about a mimosa tree, they have fuzzy little blooms that smell like peaches....I loved those trees. As kids, we would take the "leaves" off and shred them into lids and make "salads"!!! To go along with our mud pies...Mamaw would give us old lids and we would take dirt and stir in water and make "chocolate mud pies"!!!

~~~When we would go spend Friday nights with Mamaw, we always slept in the "front room". I remember one night us trying to get into bed...the covers were so heavy that we could barely lift them up to get under them!!!!

~~~Papaw had hogs, and they would always pick a very cold day to kill them. One time as a little girl, Daddy and Mom went out there to help. When I stepped up onto the back porch...there were "warsh tubs" sitting all over the porch with different hog parts in each one. I was soooo sick!!! But...nothing tastes any better than the sausage that Mamaw made. I can still see her grinding up that sausage and putting sage that she had dried in it!!!

~~~Christmas was a special time at Papaw and Mamaw's house. Papaw would go and cut down a cedar tree...and Mamaw would mix up "warshing powder" and water and get some in her hand and slide it down the tree limbs to make it look like snow. I still remember how it would smell when one of the big old light bulbs would start to melt that powder!!!

I know there are lots, lots more....but these are just a few of the sweet memories that I have of spending time at Mamaw's house. Mamaw will be ninety-eight this coming September....and she's getting a bit feeble...and her mind isn't as sharp as it used to be....but, when I go see her....her face lights up and she knows me....asks me questions....talks about gardening and cooking. When I start to leave, I always move her walker and give her a kiss....and she hugs me sooooo tight...and kisses me on the cheek.

I know....

that more than likely....

one of these days....

that's going to end....

but, until then....

(this picture was taken the last time Mamaw was able to cook Christmas Eve supper for us....and she's doing what she loves best...making biscuits!!!)

Blessings,