I had a long busy day today and just getting settled in for the night! The cheese dip recipe I posted above was a big hit. We had more food than you can imagine and they ate all the cheese dip.
Sandra you talking about going through your momma's things reminded me of the mementos my mother kept from her mother. When I was going through mother's things I found a small brown crumpled looking sack and through what in the world is that! When I opened the sack face powder just went everywhere. My grandmother used Coty face powder and when she got dressed to go somewhere she always dusted her face very liberally with the face powder. What mother had in the sack was her eye glasses, a gold colored compact with the Coty face powder, a handkerchief and a few old checks she had written. I was 19 when my grandmother died and that little sack of stuff brought her so alive to me. I could just see her sitting there dusting herself with that Coty powder. She always carried that compact of it in her purse. Also I never saw her without a handkerchief. She kept one in her pocket and also her purse. The checks kind of baffled me because they were just ordinary checks she had written. I think was one to buy propane. I guess mother kept them because of her signature.
It is a hard thing to do Sandra but I think in a way it also helps bring closure and lets you relive a lot of those good memories.
Thanksgiving is almost here!
The most profound thing that Mamma had saved of her own memories was the list of things that she got at my baby shower! I was born in 1954, and all of you know my Daddy abandoned her and Pat, left them with Gunny and Granddaddy, told her he would send for her when he found work, and the very next thing she got from him was divorce papers that accused her of mental cruelty (Pat enjoyed putting those through the shredder) she was expecting me. She had no money and could not work being pregnant, the community gave her a baby shower and she had hand written a list of everything that was given to her and it was still in her cedar chest. She was always so thankful for everything people did for her.
Charlotte, you mentioning the Coty face powder reminded me of my daddy's oldest sister, Aunt Nina. She also liberally dusted her face with powder even when she was in her 80's. She couldn't see very well, though, so she often looked more like a circus clown, bless her heart, because she would put so much powder on her face.
Sandra, what a precious keepsake -- reading about it brought tears to my eyes! I still have a couple of recipes in my mother's own handwriting and also a typed recipe that my grandmother had typed in purple ink. She had one of those Underwood typewriters and she always kept ribbon in it that had purple ink. Everything she typed was in purple.
As I've said before, mother was not a particularly good cook (except for pies) but she loved to cook and loved to read recipes. She was forever clipping recipes, writing them down, writing notes on the recipes she clipped, etc. They were stuffed in cookbooks, file folders, envelopes.....everybody wanted one of her recipe folders. It was just so her. Even my son wanted one of the folders.
Marilyn my grandmother also used too much of the Coty powder!!! She would take her glasses off to dust herself and don't think she bothered to look again after she put her glasses on!
I can still see that box sitting on my Mom's 1920's style dresser, hmmm
, the smell, the box, everything, is like something out of another time.
now to something else old and I think interesting. This old building faces the levee on a farm near the Miss River. I don't know anything about it except it fascinates me when we drive by on top of the levee. I am assuming it was or is a church. I'm not sure it is ever occupied but there is an air condition hanging from a window. There are no signs on the building that I can see, nor have I ever seen a car there.
Jeri that was a great idea about going to Ruth's if she will let us come. I sure miss her.
Charlotte you brought back memories for me too!!! My grandmother used that stuff and if you were anywhere near when she started dusting it onto her face you also received a liberal dusting of it. I still remember the smell too!!! Funny how that stays with you!!!!
Well if everyone agrees that is what we will do. I'll call Ruth and set up a date for me to visit and surprise when all of Yall show up. LOL!!!! Queeny may use Lamar's gun to shoot us!!!
river,
I'd have to be nosey and go peak in a window.With the condition of the roof and screens on the entry,I'd have to say it's vacant....but I've seen people living in worst.Certainly looks like an old church. If I was rich instead of so darn beautiful(LOL),I'd love to rescue old building and bring them back to their days of glory.
Count down...only 2 more days before I hit the road. Laundry,check list,making sure all my plants are well water,etc.
My mother used Jergens hand lotion all the time , the original cherry and almond scent. She kept a bottle of it in her purse all the time too. Everytime I smell it, it takes me back.
I bet the checks were for her signature, Charlotte. I have some hand written recipes of my mothers that I wouldn't take anything for. When I was at my sister's house in Chicago a few months ago, she let me read some letters of Momma's that she had kept for 40 years. Just reading them I could hear Momma talking again. It was wonderful.
Sandra, what a great thing to have of your mothers. especially to know what it meant to her.
Terrye
Sandra that was a very special list.
Cindy I'm like bigred I think I would have to do some poking around. Too many of our old structures have gotten torn down!
Cindy you still have a box of Coty powder! I kept the sack of memorabilia just like mother had it. I kept the bedroom set that I had growing up and I keep nothing but memorabilia, old pictures, etc in the chest of drawers. Someday my DS or DIL is going to open up that sack and wonder why on earth did I keep that! Probably should tell DS what it is.
Jeri hopefully Ruth want shoot us all!!
I have a handwritten poem my mom wrote for me for my 25th birthday...
it's my most prized possession..she liked to write poems and draw..
so I have some of that stuff of hers.....
Cindy, that photo of the box of powder sure brings back even more memories! I think the old building must have been a little country church, too. I can't imagine why anyone would build a house with those 'towers' to either side but they seem appropriate for a church. Too bad the shingles on the roof are going, going, and will soon be gone. That is a for-sure sign that the old building won't last too many more years.
Terrye, I had forgotten about the Jergens lotion until you mentioned it. :o))
It was always around our house, too.
I think going to Ruth's is a great idea!
Charlotte, my mother always collected tons of recipes, too, and had them stuck everywhere but she rarely ever used any of them! LOL The three items which I respecially remember are desserts--an "angel wing" cake and her "twice-cooked divinity". The divinity was something she only made in December every year and it was the kitchen event of the year! You couldn't make it on a humid day or it wouldn't set up (sounds like concrete, huh? LOL) I never even attempted to make it once I got married and left home--it was way too much trouble because it did involve cooking it twice--once to the soft ball stage and then to the "string" stage but somewhere I still have the recipe.
Phyllis, we crossed. My grandmother also wrote poetry and free-lance articles. She was a published author and I still have a small booklet of her poems which were printed back in the 1940's. Somewhere I have a photo of her sitting at her desk with the typewriter on it. I have things to do today but when I get home this afternoon, I will scan the photo and post it here,.
For my dad I kept his photo ID from work, his service pins, drivers license. We had a farm while I was growing up that he leased out and he had a log book where he kept meticulous records of the rent, crops, even mileage for checking on it and I kept that. He was a commercial carpenter when I was small and had a big wooden tool box he had made (it closed up and had a handle on it - sort of like the metal ones today). My brother wasn't interested in keeping any of the tools as he had his own, so I have the tool box and his old tools. I have some old handsaws that have beautiful carved handles. Daddy remodeled our house when I was 8 or 9 (built a new kitchen and made the old kitchen a dining room). I was his helper and learned what all the tools were and what they were called. He would tell me what he needed and I would go get it for him. I kept his truck when he died and he had a big tool box on the back of it crammed full of tools. I let my son go through it and keep whatever he wanted out of it and shipped it to CA for him. His kids know that all those tools he has belonged to his grandfather.
Such lovely stories...y'all are making me cry and smile at the same time. My mom has boxes and boxes of stuff that she has kept from all the kids. Every few years, we spend a couple of hours looking through a few of them and remembering. Oh my, the things that woman has kept! LOL
Kim, I would be the same way, but living in a single wide trailer for 20 some odd years has helped me not be such a pack rat. I have enough trouble with Jerry on that. He saved an old toilet seat once and put it in the shed, he has a hard time throwing something away he thinks he might can use on down the road. We are not letting him go to Mamma's until we get through cleaning--lol !
I forgot to tell him, last year at Christmas one of the kids gave me a snuggie, and you know it was so cold last winter, well he pouted and said, he wanted a snuggie.
When we were cleaning out Mamma's trunk Monday we found a pink snuggie that one of her friends gave her for Christmas last year. Pat would not let her use is as it drug the floor and she was afraid it would make her fall, so Pat had put it away in the trunk. I told Pat I wanted it for Jerry-LOL--he will be nice and warm this winter with Mammas PINK snuggie--she had a little pocket knife in her cedar chest that we have no idea where it came from, so he got that. I told him it was his inheritance from Mamma, I forgot to tell him about the PINK snuggie, I will have to bring it home today.
I hope everyone has a good day-I sure am glad to see the sunshine today !
LOL You must take a picture of him covered in his pink snuggie!
YES, take a picture of that Sandra!
You all are making me cry and smile too, and making me reminisce about my grandparents. My grandmother wore makeup but not too much, just that bright bright red lipstick and always wore a wig that was identical to her real hair, I never understood that. She was an avid quilt maker and would have people from all over the country send her patterns and she would make a quilt and send it back, and made some good side money doing it as she was retired. She could draw anything freehand, so her patters were always one of a kind. She was a line order cook at a local cafe back in the 50's and ended up being a chef at one of the most prestigious Chinese restaurants in Modesto. She quit that job after she fell and broke her hip, she couldn't stand on it for long periods of time, so she took a job as a cook at the Juvenile Hall where she retired from, it was easier for her because they are all on the same scheduled eating and she could sit down pretty much whenever she needed to. My mom has boxes and boxes and boxes of her old recipes and my mom doesn't cook. Maybe the next time I see her I'll ask her for some and Dave can play around with them.
LOL Jeri, I highly doubt that!!
Cindy I doubt that's lived in, but would be cool fixed up! It does look like an old church. The stories those walls could tell...
Wonderful! ... just made a trip to the guest room to take out my granmother's old powder box ... it is exactly like that one. ^_^
I wish I had one of my mother's old Coty powder boxes. I recall that smell so well. And I even remember where she kept it.
She did keep some of the letters my Grandmother wrote to me, and my Grandmother had kept some of the letters I wrote to her. They moved to Texas when I was little and I missed her terribly. I was her first grand-child and 'named' her (Bambi) so she was forevermore Bambi, even to her friends. She was a real letter-writer and I was so glad when they retired and moved back to Alabama. Oh you all just brought back a lot of memories. My own grand-daughter has enjoyed reading some of the letters and post-cards I wrote to my Bambi.
Sandra, the only thing I can add is to be sure to look through all your mother's purses and wallets. My mother passed away from cancer so she was not entirely in her full mind toward the end. We found a lot of stuff in wallets and purses that was unexpected. Not exactly valuable, but a few dollars here and there or pictures, etc. You never know.
Elaine - good advise. I didn't want to throw anything away without looking through it. So I boxed up papers and other stuff like that and brought it home. Every so often I would go through a box and decide what I needed to keep and what I could get rid of. Mother was also always trying to give me money for food I had brought when we had family get to gathers. I would never take it so she would end up leaving some money tucked some where in the kitchen. Several years after she had died I was looking through one of my photo albums I hadn't looked at in a long time. To my surprise I found 5, $20 bills folded up and stuck in the album. I know I would not have put money there, so my guess mother was looking at the album and she stuck it in there. It had probably been there 5 years before I found it. A very pleasant surprise.
Well, my Mamma had her money in the bank and her wallet. We did pour out a little pitcher of pennies today into a zip lock bag for Pat to take home with her. I didn't go through her purses, but I think Pat did. My Mamma was pretty sharp still, she would get confused about things we would tell her, but I think that was more about not being able to hear. Mamma had her retirement and SS checks direct deposited, her second retirement check came in the mail, just a little over a hundred bucks and that was her cash and hair fixing money, unless she got a perm and then she would write a check. She just got one too, her last bank statement shows a 50.00 check to her beautician, and she had also just paid for our paper and hers too, she gave us the Journal for a gift last year at Christmas, because she said Jerry like to read the paper-LOL--I canceled it when I got high speed internet, because I could read it on line, but she wanted us to have it. Pat canceled Mammas and they said they would send a refund.
One of the things that shocked me about last expenses was that we had to pay for her obit to run in the local paper--86.00 for the New Albany paper, I think the one that comes daily from Tupelo was 28.00, he told us they never even asked people anymore about putting them into a Memphis paper, because it was 900 for an obit in The Commercial Appeal.
Sandra I remember having to pay for the obituary in the paper. I thought that was pretty tacky! But I guess it's a steady and sure source of income!! People do die everyday!!!
Last time I dealt with that our paper offered a free obit that ran 1 time that consisted of your name, age, the date of your funeral and where. That's about 2 lines. If you wanted a true obit you paid by how many times you wanted it to run, how many words and if you wanted a picture. One run normal size with a picture cost around 300. No telling what they charge now.
Charlotte I do not have the coty box. That was a google photo. It is my understanding that some Walgreens still carry the powder in that box. I believe the formula has been changed some
Peg, I would love to stop at that church but I am always with my husband when we pass it. I like to have never convinced him to stop long enough to get a photo. Since it is 2 hrs from my home I'm never likely to drive by it without him. I absolutely love the lines of the building.
Terrye my mom always has a bottle of the cherry almond Jergens lotion in the window above the kitchen sink. I bought some a few years back when they were remaking it. I love the fragrance. I don't know if they are still making it.
whack him the knee with your shoe...he'll stop....LOL
I've never heard of anything that goes in the paper being free. I think obits should be, but I know they're not, it's just like placing an ad. And it is tacky.
When my grandmother (mom's mom) passed she had Alzheimer's for 12 years, talk about things being in the wrong places! We were finding things everywhere, newspapers in the china hutch, pots and pans under the bathroom sink, bedding under the kitchen sink...
LOL Peg! Yea that would probably work!
Trying to catch back up on the posts....... scent is one of the strongest factors on memory..... memories of foods, or perfumes, etc can instantly transport you in time to another place! The only grandparent that I knew was my grandmother (My Mom's Mom)... she died a few days after my 6th birthday so although I have memories of her they are very limited. When I was about 22 yrs old I was working in the Harvest Foods deli and waited on an elderly woman...... as soon as the woman started talking to me it was as if I was going thru the front door of my grandmother's house. I could hear the screen door slam, and see her living room and "feel" the warmth of the room. It TOTALLY startled me and I had a difficult time regaining focus to wait on the customer. She didn't look remotely like my grandmother so I was at a loss as to why I was instantly transported back16 yrs! Finally one of my co-workers asked if I noticed that woman's snuff.... and I said that no I hadn't noticed it at all but that apparently my nose and brain had....and that I could guarantee her what BRAND it was! She asked how I could do that without seeing it and I told her what had happened and that the "smell" had to be what transported me back, even though I didn't even realize I was "smelling" it. It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever experienced - a flashback to the past..............
My Mom used to make chocolate oatmeal cookies (no bake drop cookies) on a regular basis - now every time I make them I think of her! I can remember coming home off the bus to the smell of fried apple pies, or a peach cobbler in the oven! Good memories for sure!
Cindy, I think that is a great idea to journey to Ruth and Lamar's and help them in their yard...... have no idea where they live, but I will try my best to make it.
Crissy - we are playing in Mississippi county I think...... close to the Ms river just north of W Memphis. Rivercrest is ranked #1 in 3A......It is approximately a 5 hr drive. If ya'll don't mind I would sure appreciate prayers for safe travel for everyone involved. We figure most people will not return home til 3 - 4 a.m. on Saturday..... so safety is a big concern! HOPEFULLY, we will be coming home victorious and that will help keep everyone alert!! MAYBE with a little luck we will be back up in time to watch the Hooten's show on Saturday morning because we are one of their games of the week......... Of course, jessica is supposed to be at work by 9:30 so that might be REALLY interesting.............
Sandra, so glad that ya'll are making progress going thru your Mom's things. I know all the grandkids will be so happy to get their boxes of goodies........ it often isn't the most expensive things that we cherish the most. I stil wish I had asked for my Dad's cowboy boots when he passed away! One of my brother's took his hat, but his boots were too small for any of the guys in the family to wear....before I thought about them, my Mom had given them to someone and wasn't even SURE WHICH person she had given them to.......
Hope everyone has a great day!
Genna
Sandra, I am ROFLOLOL at picturing Jerry in that pink snuggie!
Gotta run, "have people to see and places to go!" LOL
BBL
Talked with Ruth yesterday and she said that everything went fine Thursday and she is scheduled again for Tuesday. Please pray for her!!!
Also please remember my sister, Jan. She has been blind for a very long time and has had many cornea transplants that rejected. Now she is a candidate for a prosthetic cornea transplant. We will know more Dec. 1. Her left eye is dead b/c of a drop in her glycoma pressure during one of the surgeries so they can only do one eye. This will be such a blessing for her if it works!!!!
Glad to hear things went well for Ruth! Will continue to pray for her.
It will be wonderful if they can do a transplant for Jan in even one eye! Will keep her in my prayers also. Would a Christmas gift that would be!!!
Great news! Thanks, Jeri. Prayers, as always.
That is what I told her!!! She is hoping to have it done before Christmas as an out patient and at the most she thinks it will be covered 1 day. Isn't that amazing!!! My mother laid w/o moving for 6 weeks from a Cataract surgery.
Jeri, I hope everything goes well for your sister. How hard that must be for her to get her hopes up after the other rejections. I pray this one works.
Cindy, they still sell it under Jergen's Original Scent. I love it. It's not the best lotion made but to just have the smell is wonderful.
We spent the day in Memphis Xmas shopping yesterday, me, my oldest daughter and my sister-in-law. Had a great time but we could hardly walk when we got home. We left my house at 6AM and got back to my house at 9PM. We were shopped out big time but I got a lot done.
Terrye
Terrye, that makes me tired just thinking about it. I don't know how you lasted that long.
Jeri, I talked to Ruth and had to get off as the doc came in we were talking, glad to know that everything was ok and the next one is on schedule.
She did tell me she was having problems with her laptop before we got off the phone.
She said she was not hurting anywhere then, but she was still sleepy from the surgery too, I hope she is still PAIN FREE !
What about Mary's test? When will she hear from it?
I have been trying to get my house cleaned and things put away today I think I am finally caught up on the house, for now anyway.
She did the PET scan today and they just called and cancelled the barium enema Monday b/c the Dr. is off for the week and didn't write the prescription for some kind of kit so it will probably be the next week.
Still praying for these requests and happy to hear the good reports. Wish I could go help with the yard work at Ruth's. I'd love to do that! Have rake, will travel!
Taking DH out for breakfast. You all have a peaceful weekend.
Foggy this morning. There is lots of yard work that must be done. I still have plants and tulip bulbs that must be put in the ground!
I'm taking this weekend to just rest. I was gonna cover my yard with the frost cloth and since it so cool I haven't really enjoyed it anyway but we have a heat wave coming in Sunday and decided to wait another week. I sure hope I don't get started cooking for Thanksgiving and the weather change!!!!
Our first frost is really late this year. My impatiens are still blooming! Leaves and pine needles are what I need to deal with now. That's not a fun thing, so it's just gonna have to wait a while.
It's nasty here--foggy, overcast, etc.etc. I was going to get out and rake up the leaves that are falling from the big oak in my neighbors yard but will wait till the sun comes out. I put the leaves in my flowerbeds for mulch for the winter.
So glad to hear that Ruth's surgery went well. I know she will be glad to get the surgeries behind her so she can start recuperating. She is on my daily prayer list for healing.
Jeri, I will put your sister, Jan, on my prayer list too.
Today is my son's birthday and we are having cake and ice cream for him this afternoon.