To Bella with Love…

How do you like the head bands Grandma made me… Oh my Darling”

My sweet little Bella…Grandma made me this.

A Romper for Bella

it has been awhile since i made a toddler outfit. it was so much fun on my new sewing machine. I thought it would be nice to share what I made for my Great Granddaughter……Annabelle is just 2 years old last month. Don’t ya just love the pony!!!!

Just had to share these gathered legs,

Headbands to match. Off to Washington this morning!!!!!

I hope you all had a nice 4th of July! It sounded like war broke out here in Nampa.

Our Salsa garden (Arney’s Project)

I do the watering and Arney does the weeding.

        W & W

Just after these pictures were taken today it opened up and rained. The veggies will love this.

We also planted Lettuce for salads. I can hardly wait for a real tomato. how does my garden grow? Very well! Thank you Arney!!!!

Since I can’t seem to stop knitting:)

I have been caught by the knitting bug, I may not get well!!!

So thought I would share that I am making scarf's for all my granddaughters. These are soft and cuddly.

Here is Finley helping me with a project, some sewing to be done. I will share when finished. I am making a few headbands to see if I like doing them.

Well it has happened, it is Summer. I hope you have a wonderful time in the sun.

In my back Yard

My favorite flower is Larkspur. And for along time I had a little patch of them. The wind blew a lot this last winter and seed went everywhere. So this is my Larkspur now. They are in every garden bed. Just a few more days and Summer will be here. I have planted some wild flowers and herbs…looking forward to seeing them in full bloom. Arney planted his garden, so we will have our salsa garden too. I hope you are enjoying a spring filled with beautiful color. Hugs, Mary

I haven’t fallen off the Earth….at least, “not yet”

I do not know how to put this? But the words that are in my head says that I am creatively blocked. I have been knitting, but nothing anyone hasn’t seen before. I have been to a few yard sales, bought a small bench/table that I will have a before and after. I have been working a little on chapter two about little Abby, but even she has writers block. I have been outside allot, the garden is looking really good. I should take some pictures.

I may be just lazy….whatever it is, I am here, Kind of!!!! Love, Mary

Chapter #1 “Just call me Abby”

Have you ever heard of Okmulgee, Oklahoma? Okmulgee means “Babbling Brook. “Not too many people have knowledge of this town. But I was born here and plan to grow up under its big wide sky. Oh ya, my name is Abigail, just call me Abby everyone else does. I was born in the house we live in. Upstairs in Mama’s room. Mama says it is real fine to have a baby in spring, life is everywhere. It is 1927 and I am 6 years old. My sister and brother are older than me. Cordilia is 9 and Thomas Jr is 11…we are the Thomas & Christina Murphy family. My Dad works for the Graham Glass and Bottle Company. Sometimes he brings home the strangest looking bottles. He calls them the miss fits, they go back in the big kills to be made again. Mama puts them on the window sill to show them off. Dad would talk about the company moving sometime in the future. The new plant would be in Checotah, Oklahoma. Would we have to move? Dad would smile and say, “It’s just a company rumor, never mind.” But the thought of moving from our town hung in the air like smoke from a fire. I could never leave Okmulgee.

Graham Glass & Bottle Company

Our farm is just outside of town. My Grandpa and Grandma built the house we live in. the history of our land is interesting because Grandpa bought the 100 ac’s from a Creek Indian named Roly McIntosh. There were a lot of Indian’s here. Grandma was not sure about the Indian’s, but soon called many Friends. Grandpa’s family was from Ireland. Grandpa was born in Philadelphia and so was Grandma. They got married at Grandma’s parent’s house when she was 16. Her Dad and Mom were not happy about her getting married to Joseph Murphy’s son, those Murphy’s are dreamers, always looking at the what if and not making stable lives for their families. So when Grandpa decided to leave Philadelphia Grandma’s Dad was fit to be tied. Day Dreamer, he will take my daughter Christina to hell and back. Grandma’s family owned a General Store in downtown Philadelphia. It had been in the family many years. Going west was never a thought for neither Marcus Dolan nor any of his family. Grandma said that Grandpa had an itch to move. So they bought the land without seeing it. They had very little knowledge of Oklahoma, but everyone seemed to think the land was good for farming. They built the kitchen first Grandma said, and lived in it until the house was finished. She said it took a long time. My Dad was born in this house along with his sister Elizabeth Murphy, Aunt Betty lived in Tulsa, Oklahoma with my Uncle Jack and 6 kids. We only see them on holidays…but when we are together it is like we were never apart.

I love to hear about the medicine and herbs that Indian’s taught my Grandma how to use. Grandma has a little patch of land where she grows roots and herbs. I try not to let her know if I do not feel well, she has no mercy when it comes to getting you well. If you get a cough, she gets out the kerosene can, puts some in a spoon with honey and heats it on the stove, and you drink it warm. Mama says this will either cure you or kill you. My Dad is going to put a inside toilet in soon. I am excited about the toilet because I am scared of the outhouse at night. My brother Thomas says there are snakes living in there and they come out at night. Mama say’s that is not true, but I just can’t get it out of my head. So I go out beyond the garden and pee at night. I know Cordilia dose too. But if you ask her she will just stick her nose in the air and walk away.

Grandpa and Grandma have their own bedroom. I love to set on the big iron bed with all the quilts of many colors. Grandma tells me stories sometimes while I get cozy. We love to play cards on the bed to. And sometimes I fall asleep right there while she is talking in that sweet low voice. The walls are filled with pictures of our family. If I ask her about a picture, Grandma tells all she knows about who the people are. Grandpa still plants about 30 ac. of Cotton each year. Grandma calls it the money crop. It is always a special time when the cotton is taken to the Cotton Gin to be weighed and Grandpa gets paid. He sets at the kitchen table with a pencil and his notebook…we all set around that old round oak table waiting for Grandpa to ask, “What will we do with the money this year?”

I can hardly wait for harvest time!

I go to school about a mile from home. I am in the first grade, Cordilia is in the 3rd grade but she should be in the 4th, she is so smart. Thomas is in the 6th grade, and he finds the whole school stuff boring. Dad gave him a spanking when report cards came home last week. I think he will do better next time. Thomas is a day dreamer, he wants to leave our sleepy little town and go to a big city. He is in a hurry to grow up…not me! I am having too much fun! Grandmas says he is just like Grandpa, she always says this with a smile.

One rainy day when I kept saying that I have nothing to do. Grandma said that I should go searching around the house for things that mean something special to me while she got out this old ledger from her trunk at the end of her bed. She took out a few pages she had written on and gave the ledger to me. This was fun, I got a few pictures that I drew at school, and Grandma said I should write stories about our family, or just thoughts that was special to me. And so now I have a place to share my secret world, I think it is a very nice place. I named my scrapbook “The house I live in.” I must find a nice ribbon to tie around it.

To be continued….

This picture reminds me of my Grandpa…..Dinnie B Stinnett

On a 40 ac cotton farm about 4 miles east of Earlimart, California there stood a  Mulberry tree with no grass under it. But there was a old steel framed cot. That cot was under the tree almost year round. I sat on that old bed with my Grandpa and sometimes fell asleep there.

Grandpa came to California when my Dad was a boy. He was one of the many that came from Oklahoma during the Great Depression of the 30’s. My Dad almost died of Dust Pneumonia while they were trying to hang onto there home.

“The Call to California” a light shinning through the dust.The illness and poverty that hung over so many was heading to California with not much more than a hope and a prayer.

They did everything they could to make money. Worked for pennies, but was grateful for a chance, a possibility to do better in a country that was under a dark cloud of poverty. Grandpa knew how to grow cotton, I am sure he could have done well growing most anything. But cotton was King and Grandpa found himself growing it, harvesting and his family were now Share croppers in California. And they also worked in the grapes, cutting them and thin working in the fruit shed. I remember the strange looking knife that was used to cut the grapes.The house they lived in was old long before they lived in it. At night when the moon was bright you could see the light through the cracks in the wall. We slept under mosque nets. “ could have thrown a cat through the walls was something I heard more than once. But I loved every minute in the old house.

I was always scared to death of Outhouses, and I did everything I could to stay out of that place. Dad would tell Mama to bring a roll of toilet paper when we were going to the farm. I guess grandpa thought that it was just good enough to use old books, newspaper, anything but a roll of toilet paper.

Going back and forth from southern California to Grandpa and Grandma’s farm was normal. Driving through fog, unbearable heat in old cars. Going over the Grape Vine with steam coming from the engine more than once. I remember my Mama sitting on the hood of the car during Tully fog giving Dad directions, you didn’t dare stop. Dad with a great big spot light. I must say that I was almost always scared when my Dad was driving.  

Grandpa had a cat that he called cat. He was never going to love that cat, but with time he was very fond of him. He was dropped off on the farm as a baby. Grandpa would show us all the tricks that he could do and would say he was the smartest cat he ever heard of.He made little toys out of wooden spools and twine. So when I saw this picture, all the thoughts of being under that tree came rushing in.

I remember cleaning off that old cot because the Mulberries would fall on it, leaving a blue stain. Grandma had a old wool and cotton quilt that she made.It stayed on the cot and Grandpa had a old pillow without a pillow case that he would lay his head on and take a short nap after lunch sometimes.He would put his old felt hat over his face sometimes. Of course he was only resting his eyes, and that old cat would lay at his feet and have a little cat nap with him.

Memories today of my time under the Mulberry tree when I was a kid in Earlimart, California.

Saying good-bye to a tree!

I know this is going to sound weird, we had to have our hundred year old tree cut down. We loved that tree. It shaded our house from the hot sun. It was beautiful. It was 5 feet wide.

We called it Woody.

Since it was right next to the house and more than a hundred feet tall, we realized that in a high wind it could drop a very large branch on our house. This winter large bark was coming off the tree, so we had someone come look at Woody and they told us it was dyeing. That we should have it removed.

I love trees, they air so beautiful. We had three other trees trimmed also.

When they cut Woody down it shook this house to the core.

 

 

Happy Thursday:)

Well it is Thursday

and I am off to my knitting class. I will turn this shawl in today. I am going to start a throw for my Great Granddaughter this week. She will not be 2 until June 10th. I thought it could be for when she is riding in the car. Her Mommy is really into pink so it will probably be in some way Pink.

I need to go look at all you have done. Our electric was off till 7:00 last night. We had trees trimmed and one removed. I will share later.

Have a great day. The sun is shinning here and the sky is so blue.

         Hugs!!!!

When will the hate stop?

I tried not to post anything about this. But I saw this picture this morning and my heart went into my stomach.

Growing up in southern California there were many fears for a child.

The Bomb that could come from Russia that meant we had to drop to the floor under our desk at school and cover our head with our arms and hands.  You had to know where your local Bomb shelter was. Ours was about 4 miles from our house. Some people built their own.As kids we just knew we would die, how would Mama find me? Add to that the Big One! The earth quake that would find us dead and floating into the ocean.

I wanted more for my kids, and grandkids. I wanted them to wake to a new day without fear of the unknown. But here we are on this day with tears, prayers and hope that somehow this would all end.

We go to church and talk about the love of God, What has happened to the love of life, the love of each other near and far?

I am sad.