Today is Monday, March 31, 2008. It is the very last day of March. The sun is just barely showing through the trees.
And here I go talking about another house. Before we moved to California we lived in Magna, Utah, near the Great Salt Lake. This was a house on the corner with two lots. There was a full basement - such a wonderful place. Finding each house we have lived in has been an adventure and this was no exception. Glen had been assigned a teaching position there and we started our foray into searching for a house. Our plan was always to get a newspaper and start checking out the ads. We weren't into getting a real estate agent at this point in our lives. We had 4 young children and renting seemed to be out of the question in this area. We wanted to be close enough to Glen's work that he could walk and close to the school for the children.
We drove onto one street and Glen pulled into the first driveway and turned around. "I couldn't live on this street," he said. "Every house looks exactly alike and I wouldn't like that." It was true, every house did look alike and each had a small tree planted in the same spot in the front yard.
We located his work place, and the elementary school, and the Church - our three important landmarks and drove up and down each street. On the corner across from the Church there was a empty house. No kind of a sign anywhere we could see. The windows were boarded up and the weeds were waist high.
We parked, climbed out of the car to look around in the yard and to try to peek into windows at the back which were not boarded up. It all looked so interesting. The yard was two lots with a small shed to the back - probably the original garage for the old house. The house was right at the corner with a small hedge on the two street sides. There was a 6 foot hedge down the front on the other side of the driveway to the next lot. There were several fruit trees in the yard and lots of space where a big garden had been. Magna had irrigation water and the water ditch ran through the back.
Lo and behold! In one of the back windows was a sheet of tablet paper with a name and a phone number on it. The paper didn't say for sale - just the name and number. We went to the nearest pay phone (this was in the days before cell phones) and tried the number. The man who answered told us that he worked at the Bank in town and really wasn't ready to sell the house yet. He said he would meet with us however and tell us what he hoped to do before the house was put up for sale.
Needless to say, we talked him into selling the house just as it was and we began the move-in process. Glen still had some summer schooling to complete in Provo where we lived but we were ready to move the family in and he could commute for his last classes. The boarded up windows in the front room had been broken by school children passing by, throwing rocks. Once that happened the owner had boarded up a big window on the front and some of the back windows nearest the street.
Our first project was to take the boards off the existing windows and arrange for new windows to be put in to replace the broken ones. We packed up our belongings in Provo and planned to use the weekend to get all set up in the new house. The weekend was sunny and beautiful and we were all eager. Saturday we accomplished a lot of work, got the boxes moved in. The electricity was still on but the gas had been turned off. We could make the arrangements on Monday. It was just like camping out for a few days and we were all excited. The children, of course, loved it and "Mom" was fine about it. She could play like a pampered pioneer for a few days. (I've always loved an adventure.)
Sunday went well because of previous planning and then Sunday evening it got really cold. The fireplace they had used for cooking would now be necessary to keep at least the front room warm until they could get the gas turned on. Barbara would take care of that on Monday because Glen had to drive back to Provo for school. The plan of action worked. The gas was turned on and they were all cozy in their new house.
The full basment was two big open rooms with a smaller storage room for food and other stuff. The furnace and the water heater sat right in the middle of the big space and acted as the divider. Since the windows were above the ground the basement was very light. It was the favorite place in the house those first few days. (And, come to think of it, all the rest of the time we lived there.)
The kitchen was the biggest room in the house with plenty of room for the dining table under the window. There was a small bedroom at the back and a large bedroom with a big window at the front. The bathroom was between the two bedrooms with a small hall. There were several decisions to be made. Who would occupy what bedrooms? Of course, Mom and Dad would have the large room. None of the children at that stage wanted to have a bedroom by themselves so all four had the other bedroom. Over time, Mom and Dad partitioned off a bedroom for themselves in the basement and the children had the upstairs bedrooms. While we lived there we had two more children - a boy and a girl. The two boys had the back bedroom and the four girls had the front bedroom.
We also built a bathroom in the basement. Oh, boy! That was a project, breaking up the concrete of the basement floor to put in the drain and the toilet! That's a story for another time. But once we got it all in, it was a great basement. We had a large play area with the TV, a nice storage room, a lovely large bedroom and a new bathroom. The washing machine and dryer were downstairs, too, with the ironing board. (That is back in the days when I was still ironing white shirts that Glen wore for teaching every day. I often watched TV while I ironed.)
The kitchen had nice windows and was a pleasant place to work. I remember that I used to section off the floor and have the children help me mop it. I'd mark the sections with white shoe polish and we would all go to work. They thought it was great sport slopping the water around. Sometimes it would have been easier to do it all myself but I wanted them to learn to work. (It all paid off in the long run.)
The front room was really like a parlor because the TV was down in the family room. We had our couch (that has it's own story), our overstuffed chair, and our piano (another story). The fireplace took up one wall and we had bookshelves and tables to take up the rest of the space. Because of the basement room for playing and crafts the front room always looked nice. I started giving piano lessons once we got all settled in and I needed the front room to set the right tone.
The shed was a great place to store all the needed yard equipment - the lawn mower, rakes, shovels, hoes, wheel barrow and such stuff. And the children loved to climb up onto its roof. We planted a big garden with a border of mums and other flowers. The apricot trees produced abundantly and our cherry tree was a great delight. It was those little sour cherries that make such good cherry pie. We planted pumpkin and squash vines along the irrigation ditch and one year a vine grew up into a neighboring tree and we had a huge squash hanging in the tree until we finally decided it was big enough to pick and use.
This house in Magna had a nice front porch along with all its other good features. What more could I ak? A big basement, a front porch, a fireplace and a wonderful kitchen.
We lived there for five years and enjoyed all the things that our wonderful house had to offer. And we loved the big yard and the great garden area.
That's it for today.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
Houses I Have Loved 2a
Today is Friday, March 26, 2008. The sun is shining but it is quite cool. I know 2a seems a little strange in the title but I realized that I had left out some important information about the house in Bakersfield. (and oh, yes, I am using a new Toshisba Lap Top we got this week. And I have to type slower since the keyboard feels so different. Our other computer crashed yesterday - more's the pity.)
Back to Bakersfield - Our yard, besides all of the fun places for the children to play, had wonderful fruit and nut trees. When we bought the place there were two pecan trees - one a papershell pecan, an apricot tree, a fig tree and two small orange trees. Our first year there, the apricots were abundant. We ate all we wanted and canned at least 30 quarts from that one tree. We always had a good crop of apricots. The pecans, how I loved having pecans of my own. This was my first exposure to the paper shell kind. Nuts you could crack in your hands, with big pecan halves, just to eat right then or to use in baking. What a treat that was for this Missouri gal who only knew about the pecans that you dug out of their little round shells!
Figs were not something we really savored until a friend gave me a recipe for honey dried figs. Oh boy! Those we all took to. And we had a big fruit dryer that Glen's dad and mother had created for us from a big old turkey incubator they bought somewhere over in Utah. Dried apricots and honey dried figs from our own trees! What a sweet treat!
We decided to plant some more fruit trees. We added a lemon tree. One of my friends said that was like having a pharmacy in your own yard. After juicing the lemons, the rind is great rubbed on sores or cuts - great healing powers. And lemon juice in a rinse for your hair works wonders. Everyone knows that lemon rubbed on the face is a great facial. And it is supposed to lighten liver spots as well.
We loved the fresh lemonade and the juice for all kinds of cooking. Lemons can be used anytime. When they are just new, the juice is very tart and then as the lemons ripen the juice gets sweeter. The tree produced abundantly. We would pick a sack full, juice them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays to have available whenever we needed them. I woud also freeze the rinds to use however I wanted. It was a great way to freshen up the garbage disposal - drop a half lemon in and grind with the hot water tap running. Such a fresh lemon scent!
We planted a cherry tree. It produced abundantly but the birds got more than we did. Next was an apple tree. Oh, those Gravenstein apples made the best applesauce and apple pie you ever could want. Our little pink grapefruit tree never did produce many grapefruit but it was fun to have it nevertheless. We also planted a mandarin orange. That was a great addition to our little orchard. The tree we wanted to produce the most was our avocado tree. Oh, it was big and beautiful and each year we would hope for a big avocado crop. But it never did produce for us. It made a good shade tree, though. There's nothing so wonderful as stepping into your yard and getting a handful of fresh fruit or some nuts. That's the best of life.
Life changes and you have to move on but you can always savor the memories. That's all for today.
Back to Bakersfield - Our yard, besides all of the fun places for the children to play, had wonderful fruit and nut trees. When we bought the place there were two pecan trees - one a papershell pecan, an apricot tree, a fig tree and two small orange trees. Our first year there, the apricots were abundant. We ate all we wanted and canned at least 30 quarts from that one tree. We always had a good crop of apricots. The pecans, how I loved having pecans of my own. This was my first exposure to the paper shell kind. Nuts you could crack in your hands, with big pecan halves, just to eat right then or to use in baking. What a treat that was for this Missouri gal who only knew about the pecans that you dug out of their little round shells!
Figs were not something we really savored until a friend gave me a recipe for honey dried figs. Oh boy! Those we all took to. And we had a big fruit dryer that Glen's dad and mother had created for us from a big old turkey incubator they bought somewhere over in Utah. Dried apricots and honey dried figs from our own trees! What a sweet treat!
We decided to plant some more fruit trees. We added a lemon tree. One of my friends said that was like having a pharmacy in your own yard. After juicing the lemons, the rind is great rubbed on sores or cuts - great healing powers. And lemon juice in a rinse for your hair works wonders. Everyone knows that lemon rubbed on the face is a great facial. And it is supposed to lighten liver spots as well.
We loved the fresh lemonade and the juice for all kinds of cooking. Lemons can be used anytime. When they are just new, the juice is very tart and then as the lemons ripen the juice gets sweeter. The tree produced abundantly. We would pick a sack full, juice them and freeze the juice in ice cube trays to have available whenever we needed them. I woud also freeze the rinds to use however I wanted. It was a great way to freshen up the garbage disposal - drop a half lemon in and grind with the hot water tap running. Such a fresh lemon scent!
We planted a cherry tree. It produced abundantly but the birds got more than we did. Next was an apple tree. Oh, those Gravenstein apples made the best applesauce and apple pie you ever could want. Our little pink grapefruit tree never did produce many grapefruit but it was fun to have it nevertheless. We also planted a mandarin orange. That was a great addition to our little orchard. The tree we wanted to produce the most was our avocado tree. Oh, it was big and beautiful and each year we would hope for a big avocado crop. But it never did produce for us. It made a good shade tree, though. There's nothing so wonderful as stepping into your yard and getting a handful of fresh fruit or some nuts. That's the best of life.
Life changes and you have to move on but you can always savor the memories. That's all for today.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Houses I Have Loved 2
Today is Saturday, March 22, 2008. The sun is shining and the sky is blue.
Before we moved to this house we lived in Bakersfield. And what a place that was to love! We moved there in 1970 because of a job transfer for Glen. We were living in Magna, Utah, when we received word of the transfer. Lo and behold, a close friend in Magna had an aunt and uncle who lived in Bakersfield. She told her aunt and uncle about our change and one day we got an interesting phone call. Just around the corner from Aunt Fern and Uncle Art there was a place for sale.
Glen couldn't get away from school to go look at it right at the time. He decided that I should go. We had three children not yet in school and my mother lived next to us in her beautiful house trailer. She would go with me and we would drive to Bakersfield to check out the place. Then Glen decided that he would like to have his Dad see the place, too. And Dad and Mother Wahlquist agreed to make the trip with me as the driver. Mother, the children and I left Magna in the morning. Stopped in Toquerville to pick up Dad and Mother Wahlquist, spent the night at their place and headed out to California the next morning.
It was a fun trip. All were happy travelers. We even had an additional passenger named Maggie - a moth that had gotten into the car at some point and the children decided to name her. Maggie stayed with us clear to California.
We were to stay with Fern and Art while we checked out the place that was for sale. I had been a bit disappointed that Glen felt his parents should be with us. After all, I thought I could make a wise decision concerning a place to live. But, oh my, how my opinion changed when we went to check out the property at 3737 Eucalyptus Drive! I was so glad that Dad was along to get the man's point of view.
The place was an acre lot. There were two houses, an 8 car garage that opened onto the alley, a big garage with an office beside it, and a 10' X 12' shed. The place was owned by Mrs. Turner. Mr. Turner, who had been in the tile business for years in Bakersfield, had died and Mrs. Turner wanted to be free of the place. To me it seemed like a fabulous estate. I knew I had to be sensible about it. Would it work for us? We trooped through the two houses and explored the sheds and walked all around.
We asked all the important questions. How about the utilities? How about the taxes? Had it had a termite inspection? Etc. There were lights all over the yard for security reasons. The whole property was surrounded by a chain link fence. Dad and Art talked about all the pros and cons from a practical standpoint.
The evening of the first day I called home to report what we had found. I was excited and tried to describe everything in detail. As I described it as best as I could, Glen asked me one question, "How will it look if my boss were to drive by?" I started laughing. "He wouldn't be able to see much?" was my reply. The front and the side fences had pomgranate and euyonmous bushes at least 6 feet high so the houses were barely visible from the road.
We spent several days with Fern and Art and went over to the property many times each day. I couldn't remember exactly how the bedrooms were or how the kitchen was in comparison to the other rooms. It was just so much to take in.
We were excited about the two houses. Mother could live in one. She would sell her trailer house and we would sell our house in Magna. She really had no reason to stay in Magna if we were in California.
Finally all the necessary paper work was done and we headed home with a place to move to in the summer while school was out. Glen had to go to summer school in Provo for part of June and July. We moved Mother to Bakersfield in early June. Two of our older children would stay with her while the rest of us lived in college housing until July. I don't know all of Glen's thoughts when he first saw the place but he soon fell in love with it as I had. And the children - well, it was quite a child's paradise.
The house seemed big to me. And there were big windows on two sides of the front room. That was an addition to the original small house. The addition went all across the back and around the side of what had been a one bedroom house - kitchen, front room/dining room combo/ bedroom and bath. The new part was a step down from the old house. It included the new front room plus a huge bedroom and a screened in porch. Originally the front door had been at the north. With the add on, the front door was now in the south.
There were beautiful mosaic tile walkways everywhere - from the main house to the smaller house, out to the garage and to the front gate, out to the sheds and all around the house. Neigbors told us that if Mr. Turner didn't have a tile job somewhere, he put his crew to work at his house making the walkways so they would not go to work for someone else. The sheds still had tiles of all sorts and shapes and marble - just scraps - not enough of any one kind to do a job. But it was all very interesting and the children found many ways to play with the various pieces of tile.
The kitchen was right in the center of the house. There was a window opening over the sink which looked into the front room. (It had been the original window-over-sink looking outside, but kept in the design of the added on part.) We decided right off that we wanted a window from the kitchen into the dining area. First thing, Dad and Glen had the saws out to create that opening. Glen built a wonderful round table to fit the spot under the new opening and the kitchen was not so isolated. The kitchen and dining room were of knotty pine. I had a double oven installed and the cook top was a Corning Ware one. The dishwasher was a portable one. Glen redid the lower cabinets to make bins for flour and the 100 lb. bag of powdered milk we always kept on hand. There was a fireplace in the east wall of the dining room along with bookshelves from floor to ceiling on one side of the fireplace.
The front room had a nice cupboard right next to the window opening and beside that was another bookcase. The bedrooms - let's see, can I even remember how they first were? The old bedroom was big, had a walk-in closet with a window. The "new bedroom" was L shaped and separated from the front room by French doors.
We made more changes in the house over the years. We added a second bathroom, removed the French doors and created a wall for what became the master bedroom and partitioned off part of that room to make a small third bedroom. The boys had the small bedroom, the girls had the original bedroom and we had our big bedroom with big windows on two sides. It was a great place.
The yards and sheds were great for everything. Glen had his wood shop. We fixed a cold storage room for all of our canning and food storage. The children used the old office as a craft room. What used to be the marble shed we used for storage of all sorts.
There were two big carports for the cars - we now had two - and for our trailer for hauling all kinds of stuff.
In the center of the side yard there was one big tree with a circle of bushes around it where the children spent hours at play, hidden away from everyone. And there were all kinds of places to have games and hide aways.
Mother's house was not small. The washing machine and dryer hook-ups were over at her place. She had a lovely front room with lots of windows, a small kitchen, a small dining room, a nice sized bedroom, and a smaller bedroom plus a large screened in porch and a nice bathroom. It was great.
Well, needless to say, it was very hard to move from that place after 22 years. But when we were asked to go to a new place, we felt that we should do it. We have never regretted any move we have made. Even though it is hard to leave a place you have learned to love. There is so much to tell about that place. I'm sure you can't see it as we did but it will always have a strong place in our hearts. Before we moved we all took lots of pictures of every area about the place. Sometimes I nearly cry when I look at them. I've added it to Houses I've Loved.
Before we moved to this house we lived in Bakersfield. And what a place that was to love! We moved there in 1970 because of a job transfer for Glen. We were living in Magna, Utah, when we received word of the transfer. Lo and behold, a close friend in Magna had an aunt and uncle who lived in Bakersfield. She told her aunt and uncle about our change and one day we got an interesting phone call. Just around the corner from Aunt Fern and Uncle Art there was a place for sale.
Glen couldn't get away from school to go look at it right at the time. He decided that I should go. We had three children not yet in school and my mother lived next to us in her beautiful house trailer. She would go with me and we would drive to Bakersfield to check out the place. Then Glen decided that he would like to have his Dad see the place, too. And Dad and Mother Wahlquist agreed to make the trip with me as the driver. Mother, the children and I left Magna in the morning. Stopped in Toquerville to pick up Dad and Mother Wahlquist, spent the night at their place and headed out to California the next morning.
It was a fun trip. All were happy travelers. We even had an additional passenger named Maggie - a moth that had gotten into the car at some point and the children decided to name her. Maggie stayed with us clear to California.
We were to stay with Fern and Art while we checked out the place that was for sale. I had been a bit disappointed that Glen felt his parents should be with us. After all, I thought I could make a wise decision concerning a place to live. But, oh my, how my opinion changed when we went to check out the property at 3737 Eucalyptus Drive! I was so glad that Dad was along to get the man's point of view.
The place was an acre lot. There were two houses, an 8 car garage that opened onto the alley, a big garage with an office beside it, and a 10' X 12' shed. The place was owned by Mrs. Turner. Mr. Turner, who had been in the tile business for years in Bakersfield, had died and Mrs. Turner wanted to be free of the place. To me it seemed like a fabulous estate. I knew I had to be sensible about it. Would it work for us? We trooped through the two houses and explored the sheds and walked all around.
We asked all the important questions. How about the utilities? How about the taxes? Had it had a termite inspection? Etc. There were lights all over the yard for security reasons. The whole property was surrounded by a chain link fence. Dad and Art talked about all the pros and cons from a practical standpoint.
The evening of the first day I called home to report what we had found. I was excited and tried to describe everything in detail. As I described it as best as I could, Glen asked me one question, "How will it look if my boss were to drive by?" I started laughing. "He wouldn't be able to see much?" was my reply. The front and the side fences had pomgranate and euyonmous bushes at least 6 feet high so the houses were barely visible from the road.
We spent several days with Fern and Art and went over to the property many times each day. I couldn't remember exactly how the bedrooms were or how the kitchen was in comparison to the other rooms. It was just so much to take in.
We were excited about the two houses. Mother could live in one. She would sell her trailer house and we would sell our house in Magna. She really had no reason to stay in Magna if we were in California.
Finally all the necessary paper work was done and we headed home with a place to move to in the summer while school was out. Glen had to go to summer school in Provo for part of June and July. We moved Mother to Bakersfield in early June. Two of our older children would stay with her while the rest of us lived in college housing until July. I don't know all of Glen's thoughts when he first saw the place but he soon fell in love with it as I had. And the children - well, it was quite a child's paradise.
The house seemed big to me. And there were big windows on two sides of the front room. That was an addition to the original small house. The addition went all across the back and around the side of what had been a one bedroom house - kitchen, front room/dining room combo/ bedroom and bath. The new part was a step down from the old house. It included the new front room plus a huge bedroom and a screened in porch. Originally the front door had been at the north. With the add on, the front door was now in the south.
There were beautiful mosaic tile walkways everywhere - from the main house to the smaller house, out to the garage and to the front gate, out to the sheds and all around the house. Neigbors told us that if Mr. Turner didn't have a tile job somewhere, he put his crew to work at his house making the walkways so they would not go to work for someone else. The sheds still had tiles of all sorts and shapes and marble - just scraps - not enough of any one kind to do a job. But it was all very interesting and the children found many ways to play with the various pieces of tile.
The kitchen was right in the center of the house. There was a window opening over the sink which looked into the front room. (It had been the original window-over-sink looking outside, but kept in the design of the added on part.) We decided right off that we wanted a window from the kitchen into the dining area. First thing, Dad and Glen had the saws out to create that opening. Glen built a wonderful round table to fit the spot under the new opening and the kitchen was not so isolated. The kitchen and dining room were of knotty pine. I had a double oven installed and the cook top was a Corning Ware one. The dishwasher was a portable one. Glen redid the lower cabinets to make bins for flour and the 100 lb. bag of powdered milk we always kept on hand. There was a fireplace in the east wall of the dining room along with bookshelves from floor to ceiling on one side of the fireplace.
The front room had a nice cupboard right next to the window opening and beside that was another bookcase. The bedrooms - let's see, can I even remember how they first were? The old bedroom was big, had a walk-in closet with a window. The "new bedroom" was L shaped and separated from the front room by French doors.
We made more changes in the house over the years. We added a second bathroom, removed the French doors and created a wall for what became the master bedroom and partitioned off part of that room to make a small third bedroom. The boys had the small bedroom, the girls had the original bedroom and we had our big bedroom with big windows on two sides. It was a great place.
The yards and sheds were great for everything. Glen had his wood shop. We fixed a cold storage room for all of our canning and food storage. The children used the old office as a craft room. What used to be the marble shed we used for storage of all sorts.
There were two big carports for the cars - we now had two - and for our trailer for hauling all kinds of stuff.
In the center of the side yard there was one big tree with a circle of bushes around it where the children spent hours at play, hidden away from everyone. And there were all kinds of places to have games and hide aways.
Mother's house was not small. The washing machine and dryer hook-ups were over at her place. She had a lovely front room with lots of windows, a small kitchen, a small dining room, a nice sized bedroom, and a smaller bedroom plus a large screened in porch and a nice bathroom. It was great.
Well, needless to say, it was very hard to move from that place after 22 years. But when we were asked to go to a new place, we felt that we should do it. We have never regretted any move we have made. Even though it is hard to leave a place you have learned to love. There is so much to tell about that place. I'm sure you can't see it as we did but it will always have a strong place in our hearts. Before we moved we all took lots of pictures of every area about the place. Sometimes I nearly cry when I look at them. I've added it to Houses I've Loved.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Houses I Have Loved
Today is Wednesday, March 19, 2008. It is sunny and warm again today.
Oh, dear! This is my second typing for today. Somehow I pushed a wrong button and zapped out all my "wonderful" writing about this house I love. I am going to start again. Maybe it will be better but maybe it won't. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's what my "mama" always said. Okay, here goes for the second time.
As we drove up to our house today I was reminded again how much I love this place of ours. It is a big two story white house with dark grey, almost black shutters. Well, big is relative. It looks big and by many standards it is big. It hasn't always been white. When we bought it 16 years ago it was grey wood. It looked nice then but better now. Now it has white aluminum siding. I have always liked two story white houses. They are very popular in Missouri and I have lived in at least three before I got married.
We've made more changes in the house. We had to put on a new roof. It's slate grey to match the shutters. And we had double paned windows installed. It all looks very nice.
There is a window box at the front window. Our youngest daughter planted geraniums there the first summer we moved in and they are in full bloom now, a beautiful pink. We keep thinning them and planting some in other places around the yard.
Under the window box is a bed of rose bushes planted by another daughter. They are in full leaf and will soon be blooming again. To the side of the garage is a flower bed with two medium size junipers and newly planted petunias and marigolds. There are some perennial daisies and other ground cover there as well. Oh, yes, and agapanthas and iris, too.
The front of the house looks very inviting. When we drive up Glen and I say to each other, "Let's stop here and see who lives here." We have a nice size patch of green lawn in front and it is newly mowed.
Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bath. The bathroom is the nicest room in the house. Even though it is small it has been newly refurbished. There is a good tile floor - large tiles - and a new bathtub as well as a cultured marble shower enclosure. We use a shower curtain to add color. The fixtures are all silver and the wall is textured white. Our youngest son and his friend did the texturing for us. One daughter and son-in-law laid the tile floor. They are all so good to help us.
Downstairs there is the little entry hall into the front room. It is a pleasant room with a large window that looks out at the necterine tree which is in full beautiful pink blossom right now. The most imposing piece of furniture there is our Kimball piano - a beautiful old upright of flaming oak. And we have a new couch and love seat. The love seat rocks and reclines. The sofa has two reclining seats. Such luxury! And there is a fireplace with a large gold framed mirror above the mantle. We feel very rich because we have two fireplaces. One in the front room and a second one in the family room. We used to burn wood but with new city ordinances and my allergies we have converted to gas inserts and they are just right.
The family room at the back of the house was built on before we bought it. That extension includes a room at one end which we use as our bedroom. Our back window looks out over our back yard and we can see the tops of the trees in the yard behind us. It gives us an outdoor feel which we like. It is big enough for our bed, two small chests which are our bedside tables, a schrunk (ammoire in French - schrunk in German), and a mirrored dresser. There is just barely enough space to walk around the edge of the bed.
There is a small bedroom up in front which we use now as a den. It is also a place to store toys for our grandchildren's visits. It has a bunch of books. There is a floor to ceiling bookcase along part of one wall and an antique lawyer's book case full of books. We have a couple of chairs there and a cherrywood settee.
The downstairs bathroom is between that room and the biggest bedroom in the house. When the bedroom is not in use by guests it is my "pilot room" (you know, pile it here, pile it there). I do a quick clean-up when someone is coming to spend the night. There is another little room off this bedroom. It is a part of the back addition. This little room has a door which goes out into the side yard. We have added floor to ceiling bookshelves on two sides of that little room. That's where we keep the organ and other instruments that belong to various members of the family. There is a chair for reading and lots of baskets and pretty metal tins that hold my "treasures."
The downstairs bathroom has been redone since we moved in here, too. We have a cultured marble shower with opaque glass doors. The bathrooms are quite small but they are adequate.
The favorite rooms are the family room and the kitchen. We remodeled the kitchen in 1998 with new cabinets we got from Home Depot. I think they are called Kraft Maid. It was a huge project but the kitchen is very nice. I have a double GE oven. Just right at Thanksgiving time and Christmas. And all other times of the year, too. The kitchen floor is hard wood and there is a big picture window in the west side where we have our dining table.
The table is the round one Glen made for me while we lived in Bakersfield. It seats 10 comfortable and with the right combination of seating can seat 12. The window looks out to the west on our peach tree, the neighbor's lemon tree, our rustic fence with the iris and roses. And we can always see the sky. Of course, we have a view of our neighbor's roof but we don't focus so much on that.
We recently bought a new cook top and I got a brand new sink for Christmas. And it is great! One side is deep enough to hold a cookie sheet and enough dishes to fill the dishwasher. I can have clean counters most of the time now.
The family room is the best. It's where we spend most of our time. The seating is comfortable. The TV is in here. The computer, the scanner, the printer, the CD player, the radio. We also have a nice roll top desk, the exercise bike and the tread mill. The big cozy recliner chair is very popular and there are more book shelves. These were here when we first looked at the house. Since we had lots of bookshelves in our house in Bakersfield, we wanted bookshelves in our house in Sacramento. There is a window opening from the kitchen into the family room and you never feel isolated when you are in the kitchen and the others are in the family room. We had that in our house in Bakersfield, too. We think this house was just made for us. All in all it is a very good house and I love it. I never want to move.
Our backyard is small. However, there is room for our picnic table, a few lawn chairs and our trampoline. In our raised garden bed we have some flowers and we always plant tomatoes and peppers along with some other veggies. Along with our peach and nectarine trees we have a plum, an apricot, an apple and two oranges trees. We are going to plant a pie cherry tree this year.
I was going to write some more about other houses we have had but I don't have time today. I will another time. That's all for today - for the second time! Here's hoping I don't push the wrong button and zap it all away again.
Oh, dear! This is my second typing for today. Somehow I pushed a wrong button and zapped out all my "wonderful" writing about this house I love. I am going to start again. Maybe it will be better but maybe it won't. Oh well, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. That's what my "mama" always said. Okay, here goes for the second time.
As we drove up to our house today I was reminded again how much I love this place of ours. It is a big two story white house with dark grey, almost black shutters. Well, big is relative. It looks big and by many standards it is big. It hasn't always been white. When we bought it 16 years ago it was grey wood. It looked nice then but better now. Now it has white aluminum siding. I have always liked two story white houses. They are very popular in Missouri and I have lived in at least three before I got married.
We've made more changes in the house. We had to put on a new roof. It's slate grey to match the shutters. And we had double paned windows installed. It all looks very nice.
There is a window box at the front window. Our youngest daughter planted geraniums there the first summer we moved in and they are in full bloom now, a beautiful pink. We keep thinning them and planting some in other places around the yard.
Under the window box is a bed of rose bushes planted by another daughter. They are in full leaf and will soon be blooming again. To the side of the garage is a flower bed with two medium size junipers and newly planted petunias and marigolds. There are some perennial daisies and other ground cover there as well. Oh, yes, and agapanthas and iris, too.
The front of the house looks very inviting. When we drive up Glen and I say to each other, "Let's stop here and see who lives here." We have a nice size patch of green lawn in front and it is newly mowed.
Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bath. The bathroom is the nicest room in the house. Even though it is small it has been newly refurbished. There is a good tile floor - large tiles - and a new bathtub as well as a cultured marble shower enclosure. We use a shower curtain to add color. The fixtures are all silver and the wall is textured white. Our youngest son and his friend did the texturing for us. One daughter and son-in-law laid the tile floor. They are all so good to help us.
Downstairs there is the little entry hall into the front room. It is a pleasant room with a large window that looks out at the necterine tree which is in full beautiful pink blossom right now. The most imposing piece of furniture there is our Kimball piano - a beautiful old upright of flaming oak. And we have a new couch and love seat. The love seat rocks and reclines. The sofa has two reclining seats. Such luxury! And there is a fireplace with a large gold framed mirror above the mantle. We feel very rich because we have two fireplaces. One in the front room and a second one in the family room. We used to burn wood but with new city ordinances and my allergies we have converted to gas inserts and they are just right.
The family room at the back of the house was built on before we bought it. That extension includes a room at one end which we use as our bedroom. Our back window looks out over our back yard and we can see the tops of the trees in the yard behind us. It gives us an outdoor feel which we like. It is big enough for our bed, two small chests which are our bedside tables, a schrunk (ammoire in French - schrunk in German), and a mirrored dresser. There is just barely enough space to walk around the edge of the bed.
There is a small bedroom up in front which we use now as a den. It is also a place to store toys for our grandchildren's visits. It has a bunch of books. There is a floor to ceiling bookcase along part of one wall and an antique lawyer's book case full of books. We have a couple of chairs there and a cherrywood settee.
The downstairs bathroom is between that room and the biggest bedroom in the house. When the bedroom is not in use by guests it is my "pilot room" (you know, pile it here, pile it there). I do a quick clean-up when someone is coming to spend the night. There is another little room off this bedroom. It is a part of the back addition. This little room has a door which goes out into the side yard. We have added floor to ceiling bookshelves on two sides of that little room. That's where we keep the organ and other instruments that belong to various members of the family. There is a chair for reading and lots of baskets and pretty metal tins that hold my "treasures."
The downstairs bathroom has been redone since we moved in here, too. We have a cultured marble shower with opaque glass doors. The bathrooms are quite small but they are adequate.
The favorite rooms are the family room and the kitchen. We remodeled the kitchen in 1998 with new cabinets we got from Home Depot. I think they are called Kraft Maid. It was a huge project but the kitchen is very nice. I have a double GE oven. Just right at Thanksgiving time and Christmas. And all other times of the year, too. The kitchen floor is hard wood and there is a big picture window in the west side where we have our dining table.
The table is the round one Glen made for me while we lived in Bakersfield. It seats 10 comfortable and with the right combination of seating can seat 12. The window looks out to the west on our peach tree, the neighbor's lemon tree, our rustic fence with the iris and roses. And we can always see the sky. Of course, we have a view of our neighbor's roof but we don't focus so much on that.
We recently bought a new cook top and I got a brand new sink for Christmas. And it is great! One side is deep enough to hold a cookie sheet and enough dishes to fill the dishwasher. I can have clean counters most of the time now.
The family room is the best. It's where we spend most of our time. The seating is comfortable. The TV is in here. The computer, the scanner, the printer, the CD player, the radio. We also have a nice roll top desk, the exercise bike and the tread mill. The big cozy recliner chair is very popular and there are more book shelves. These were here when we first looked at the house. Since we had lots of bookshelves in our house in Bakersfield, we wanted bookshelves in our house in Sacramento. There is a window opening from the kitchen into the family room and you never feel isolated when you are in the kitchen and the others are in the family room. We had that in our house in Bakersfield, too. We think this house was just made for us. All in all it is a very good house and I love it. I never want to move.
Our backyard is small. However, there is room for our picnic table, a few lawn chairs and our trampoline. In our raised garden bed we have some flowers and we always plant tomatoes and peppers along with some other veggies. Along with our peach and nectarine trees we have a plum, an apricot, an apple and two oranges trees. We are going to plant a pie cherry tree this year.
I was going to write some more about other houses we have had but I don't have time today. I will another time. That's all for today - for the second time! Here's hoping I don't push the wrong button and zap it all away again.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Families and Friends
Today is Friday, March 14, 2008. It has been an interesting day, weatherwise. First it was cloudy. Then the sun came out. Then the wind began to blow and black clouds made their appearance. Since then it has been cloudy, then sunny, then cloudy again. Right now the sun is shining.
We have had several interesting experiences over the last few weeks involving families and friends. We made a long trip to Southern California to visit our oldest son and his family and our youngest daughter and her family. Kathy lives in Burbank and David lives in Escondido. The travel was great. Glen and I like to spend hours in the car just talking as we ride. Usually we read a novel out loud but this time I did not dare read because I have been experiencing VERTIGO. The Dr. said it was probably a problem with my inner ear canal. He said at my age, little crystals sometimes form and upset the balance. Oh, boy! Anyway, I didn't dare read this trip.
Our granddaugther let us sleep in her bedroom while we were in Escondido. Bless her heart! She is good to her grandpa and grandma. We love to visit our children and grandchildren. They tell us about school and their friends and all the exciting new things they are doing with computers, ipods, and all the latest lingo. Our grandson now has a job at an ice skating rink. That is interesting to think about. We love to talk with our son and daughter in law about what is happening in their lives.
Our daughter and her family live in an upstairs apartment and we get to sleep in the living room. There are two cute little boys there. One is just learning to talk. The other is just a little baby. They are both so darling and we love watching them. Kathy and her husband encouraged me to start this blog.
After all the years of encouraging our children to learn and do new things, it is now their turn to encourage us older folk in the new ways of the world. Since I do like the computer, it wasn't too hard. And since I like to talk and write, it seemed like a natural thing to do.
One day last week I heard the front door open and here came three little children running in with arms outstretched for a hug. Well, they are not all little any more. One granddaughter is 9 years old. And she is tall. Her little brother is 6, in the first grade. Her younger sister is just 3. There is also a baby boy but he doesn't run yet. His mother carried him in the baby carrier. He smiles when we talk to him.
We look forward to Friday nights when three of our daughters come to spend the evening with us. Usually we "order in" and have something special for dinner. Our favorites are Little Ceasars Pizza, Taco Bell, Subway sandwiches, Chinese food or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Once in awhile we just do McDonald's but it is the family togetherness that is the best part.
A few days ago we got a late, late Christmas card for some dear friends in Bakersfield. We haven't heard from them for awhile and we were delighted to get their card. And guess what? Instead of waiting to turn around something in the mail, we took advantage of our special phone offer. We have a special rate for all calls in California. We went right to the telephone to call them. With two phones we could just talk to our hearts content. They had two phones at their house, too. They have been out of the US for 3 years on a special Church assignment. We talked for over an hour. What a great time we had renewing friendships.
Several times each week we are able to be with other friends who live right here close to us. And we have wonderful neighbors to chat with on our front sidewalk.
Today we made a phone call to one of Glen's brother's in Utah. They are very dear to us. We love to find out what is going on with their family and to hear news about any of the other brothers. What a great time to be alive when we don't have to wait months and months for the Pony Express or weeks and weeks for the Overland railroad to bring the mail or even a week for a letter to be delivered by the postal service. We can go to the telephone or the computer and have instant messaging. Life is good. That's all for today.
We have had several interesting experiences over the last few weeks involving families and friends. We made a long trip to Southern California to visit our oldest son and his family and our youngest daughter and her family. Kathy lives in Burbank and David lives in Escondido. The travel was great. Glen and I like to spend hours in the car just talking as we ride. Usually we read a novel out loud but this time I did not dare read because I have been experiencing VERTIGO. The Dr. said it was probably a problem with my inner ear canal. He said at my age, little crystals sometimes form and upset the balance. Oh, boy! Anyway, I didn't dare read this trip.
Our granddaugther let us sleep in her bedroom while we were in Escondido. Bless her heart! She is good to her grandpa and grandma. We love to visit our children and grandchildren. They tell us about school and their friends and all the exciting new things they are doing with computers, ipods, and all the latest lingo. Our grandson now has a job at an ice skating rink. That is interesting to think about. We love to talk with our son and daughter in law about what is happening in their lives.
Our daughter and her family live in an upstairs apartment and we get to sleep in the living room. There are two cute little boys there. One is just learning to talk. The other is just a little baby. They are both so darling and we love watching them. Kathy and her husband encouraged me to start this blog.
After all the years of encouraging our children to learn and do new things, it is now their turn to encourage us older folk in the new ways of the world. Since I do like the computer, it wasn't too hard. And since I like to talk and write, it seemed like a natural thing to do.
One day last week I heard the front door open and here came three little children running in with arms outstretched for a hug. Well, they are not all little any more. One granddaughter is 9 years old. And she is tall. Her little brother is 6, in the first grade. Her younger sister is just 3. There is also a baby boy but he doesn't run yet. His mother carried him in the baby carrier. He smiles when we talk to him.
We look forward to Friday nights when three of our daughters come to spend the evening with us. Usually we "order in" and have something special for dinner. Our favorites are Little Ceasars Pizza, Taco Bell, Subway sandwiches, Chinese food or Kentucky Fried Chicken. Once in awhile we just do McDonald's but it is the family togetherness that is the best part.
A few days ago we got a late, late Christmas card for some dear friends in Bakersfield. We haven't heard from them for awhile and we were delighted to get their card. And guess what? Instead of waiting to turn around something in the mail, we took advantage of our special phone offer. We have a special rate for all calls in California. We went right to the telephone to call them. With two phones we could just talk to our hearts content. They had two phones at their house, too. They have been out of the US for 3 years on a special Church assignment. We talked for over an hour. What a great time we had renewing friendships.
Several times each week we are able to be with other friends who live right here close to us. And we have wonderful neighbors to chat with on our front sidewalk.
Today we made a phone call to one of Glen's brother's in Utah. They are very dear to us. We love to find out what is going on with their family and to hear news about any of the other brothers. What a great time to be alive when we don't have to wait months and months for the Pony Express or weeks and weeks for the Overland railroad to bring the mail or even a week for a letter to be delivered by the postal service. We can go to the telephone or the computer and have instant messaging. Life is good. That's all for today.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Addictions
Today is Saturday, March 8, 2008.
Today the sun is shining.
When I got up this morning I went right to the computer. I have become addicted to the thing. Right now I am checking family history records for a program called family indexing. I am called an arbitrator. My responsibility is to check two listings made by individual indexers against the original record (census, birth records, etc.). If their entries do not agree then I must decide which one matches the original. If neither one matches then I enter my opinion.
I just started doing this a few days ago and I have already become addicted. Of course, I've been addicted to the computer for years. We were talking the other night with some of our family about computers. Can you believe they are actually so new in the realm of existence? Glen talked about his first computer class in college. The computer filled a whole room. And now - ohmigosh! Computers have become so tiny you can carry them in your hand.
We have two computers right now. An "old" laptop. Why, we purchased it in 1998 before we went to Pakistan. It still works okay. And we have the "house" coputer. It is supposed to be a PC (personal computer) but everyone who lives here or comes to visit is pulled directly to the computer for something. Even the grand children are pulled into it. Computers are great!
Another one of my addictions is Mexican food. I could eat Mexican food morning, noon, and night. I love homemade Mexican food and Mexican resturant food. I have a dear friend, Josie Garcia, who makes the best tamales you have ever tasted. She is not connected with "Garcia's", the Mexican resturant in Citrus Heights, on Madison Avenue. Josie lives in another city. But "Garcia's" makes great food. And I love Taco Bell. Well, to be downright truthful, I like all Mexican food places.
First thing in the morning when I get up, I open all the window blinds. That's an addiction, too. I love to let the sun come streaming into the house. And even on a cloudy day, that's the first order of business. Open the window blinds. Right now, we have all venitian blinds. At our last home we had heavy draperies that we closed at night but first thing in the morning, "open those shades." If my husband is up first then he opens all the blinds. That is our morning addiction.
Homemade bread! I think that is an addiction, too. We have a bread maker now, a machine I mean. I used to be the bread maker. And I did it all by hand. I'd knead the bread and work out my frustrations. Now, Glen makes the bread in the bread machine. We use whole wheat flour so it is very healthy. Home made bread - well, how can you really describe how wonderful it is. It is great for bread and milk. (Store bought bread turns into paste - YUK!) Bread pudding is so tasty with home made bread. And on a cold morning, milk toast just hits the spot. Of course, Glen has to make it. His milk toast is the best. He learned it from his mother.
I am glad all my addictions are to good things. I feel so bad for those who are addicted to harmful things. I don't want to get over my addictions. I just want to keep adding good ones.
That's it for today.
Today the sun is shining.
When I got up this morning I went right to the computer. I have become addicted to the thing. Right now I am checking family history records for a program called family indexing. I am called an arbitrator. My responsibility is to check two listings made by individual indexers against the original record (census, birth records, etc.). If their entries do not agree then I must decide which one matches the original. If neither one matches then I enter my opinion.
I just started doing this a few days ago and I have already become addicted. Of course, I've been addicted to the computer for years. We were talking the other night with some of our family about computers. Can you believe they are actually so new in the realm of existence? Glen talked about his first computer class in college. The computer filled a whole room. And now - ohmigosh! Computers have become so tiny you can carry them in your hand.
We have two computers right now. An "old" laptop. Why, we purchased it in 1998 before we went to Pakistan. It still works okay. And we have the "house" coputer. It is supposed to be a PC (personal computer) but everyone who lives here or comes to visit is pulled directly to the computer for something. Even the grand children are pulled into it. Computers are great!
Another one of my addictions is Mexican food. I could eat Mexican food morning, noon, and night. I love homemade Mexican food and Mexican resturant food. I have a dear friend, Josie Garcia, who makes the best tamales you have ever tasted. She is not connected with "Garcia's", the Mexican resturant in Citrus Heights, on Madison Avenue. Josie lives in another city. But "Garcia's" makes great food. And I love Taco Bell. Well, to be downright truthful, I like all Mexican food places.
First thing in the morning when I get up, I open all the window blinds. That's an addiction, too. I love to let the sun come streaming into the house. And even on a cloudy day, that's the first order of business. Open the window blinds. Right now, we have all venitian blinds. At our last home we had heavy draperies that we closed at night but first thing in the morning, "open those shades." If my husband is up first then he opens all the blinds. That is our morning addiction.
Homemade bread! I think that is an addiction, too. We have a bread maker now, a machine I mean. I used to be the bread maker. And I did it all by hand. I'd knead the bread and work out my frustrations. Now, Glen makes the bread in the bread machine. We use whole wheat flour so it is very healthy. Home made bread - well, how can you really describe how wonderful it is. It is great for bread and milk. (Store bought bread turns into paste - YUK!) Bread pudding is so tasty with home made bread. And on a cold morning, milk toast just hits the spot. Of course, Glen has to make it. His milk toast is the best. He learned it from his mother.
I am glad all my addictions are to good things. I feel so bad for those who are addicted to harmful things. I don't want to get over my addictions. I just want to keep adding good ones.
That's it for today.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Today is Monday, March 3, 2008.
It is sunny.
I will go to the grocery store today.
Grocery stores come in many varieties. When I was young I loved to go with my mother to the store. We had no car and so had to walk and carry home in our arms whatever groceries we bought. The A & P Store was about 6 long blocks away from our house. I was just 6 years old and the clerk would make two small light weight bags for me to carry in my arms. Mother's bags were heavier but not too heavy. Two or three years later a small grocery store opened, Dad's Market, which was only three blocks away. I remember that Dad's had hamburger on sale - 3 lbs/$1.00. That was a great bargain.
Mother could make that hamburger go a long way and she could cook up a good many meals for the two of us from 3 pounds of hamburger. Sometimes we would buy a stewing hen (they were cheaper than frying hens) and often she would buy a pound of chicken necks and backs for 10c and make the best chicken and dumplings you ever tasted. That was about the only kind of meat we bought.
I loved the oleo packages - a plastic bag with a pound of white shortening with a little yellow capsule in one corner. The trick was to squeeze the capsule to release the yellow food coloring and then to knead the entire plastic bag until it was all a beautiful yellow and looked like butter.
Of course, we bought the staples - milk, bread, eggs, oatmeal and beans - and whatever fresh fruits and veggies were available at the time. Oh, yes and cheese and dried beef in cute little glasses with metal lids.
About three years after Dad's Market opened a real supermarket opened near us. It was about 3 times the size of Dad's and twice as big as the A & P Store. This was Krogers. Oh, my! What a selection they had! Walking up and down the aisles was like a great adventure.
When I went to college I had my meals in the dorm and didn't do much grocery shopping at all. There was a small store near the campus - Carson's - where we occasionally bought a few items. Then when I got married I fell in love with Albertson's. A huge store and clean and everything I ever wanted. Aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables which looked like magazine pictures. So many choices of canned good. And I found Danish Dessert and Lawry's Taco Sauce. That was in Utah.
Then we moved to California and where we lived there was no Albertsons. I shopped at Safeway and made requests for Danish Dessert and Lawry's Taco Sauce. My answer - "These items do not sell well in California. Therefore, we do not stock them."
"How do you know they don't sell well? If you don't stock them, of course, they won't sell well."
Imagine my delight when a new Albertson Store was built near us. They would order Danish Dessert for me but not Lawry's. My friends in southern California would bring me bottles of the sauce when we met for State PTA meetings. And then the Albertson stores in California began to close.
Now I go to Safeway's and Sam's Club. Once in awhile to Bel Air or Raley's. Some changes come hard.
Except, of course, I am always overwhelmed these days by the selections of food we have in these big stores. When we lived in Pakistan the grocery stores were very different than in the United States. The ones close to us were not very big. They didn't have much variety of canned goods. There was wonderful citrus jam unmatched by any I have tasted since. Fresh fruits and vegetables you bought from the vendors in the streets or at a street market. And those were wonderful. If you wanted chicken you went to the chicken man. He had live chickens in pens and you picked the one you wanted and he got it ready for you to take home and cook. That was a brand new experience for me.
It wasn't had to find sweetened condensed milk. Nestle's had a plant between two of the larger cities. I always wondered why they didn't have chocolate chips, too. But I never found those in Pakistan.
When we were in India for awhile, the grocery stores were small, also. You had to learn the names of what you wanted. I searched a long time for brown sugar until I learned that it was called jugary. And it was interesting that they have a jello-like pudding that sets up without a refrigerator. That's because many of the people where we lived in India didn't have a fridge.
Stores in Greece had lots of pasta and canned tomatoes but not many other canned goods. They had fabulous fish sections and cheese and meats and olives of every size and seasonings. I loved to walk around the cheese section and study the many and varied kinds of cheeses. After living in those areas, coming back to a grocery store in my own home town was overwhelming. I think the number and variety of selections had multiplied more than 10 times. Especially in the salad dressing and the cereal aisles. I am in awe of the many choices we have. It's hard to send anyone to the store for salad dressing. "Get me a French Dressing, please." Well, do you want lo-fat, lo-cal, no fat, lite, regular, zesty, etc, etc? Oh my!
Most of the things I buy when I grocery shop are pretty routine. Milk, butter, eggs, Bisquick, honey, Miracle Whip, carrots, onions, potatoes. But I love to look at all the choices that are there for me. Shopping is an adventure every time. Well, that's all for today.
It is sunny.
I will go to the grocery store today.
Grocery stores come in many varieties. When I was young I loved to go with my mother to the store. We had no car and so had to walk and carry home in our arms whatever groceries we bought. The A & P Store was about 6 long blocks away from our house. I was just 6 years old and the clerk would make two small light weight bags for me to carry in my arms. Mother's bags were heavier but not too heavy. Two or three years later a small grocery store opened, Dad's Market, which was only three blocks away. I remember that Dad's had hamburger on sale - 3 lbs/$1.00. That was a great bargain.
Mother could make that hamburger go a long way and she could cook up a good many meals for the two of us from 3 pounds of hamburger. Sometimes we would buy a stewing hen (they were cheaper than frying hens) and often she would buy a pound of chicken necks and backs for 10c and make the best chicken and dumplings you ever tasted. That was about the only kind of meat we bought.
I loved the oleo packages - a plastic bag with a pound of white shortening with a little yellow capsule in one corner. The trick was to squeeze the capsule to release the yellow food coloring and then to knead the entire plastic bag until it was all a beautiful yellow and looked like butter.
Of course, we bought the staples - milk, bread, eggs, oatmeal and beans - and whatever fresh fruits and veggies were available at the time. Oh, yes and cheese and dried beef in cute little glasses with metal lids.
About three years after Dad's Market opened a real supermarket opened near us. It was about 3 times the size of Dad's and twice as big as the A & P Store. This was Krogers. Oh, my! What a selection they had! Walking up and down the aisles was like a great adventure.
When I went to college I had my meals in the dorm and didn't do much grocery shopping at all. There was a small store near the campus - Carson's - where we occasionally bought a few items. Then when I got married I fell in love with Albertson's. A huge store and clean and everything I ever wanted. Aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables which looked like magazine pictures. So many choices of canned good. And I found Danish Dessert and Lawry's Taco Sauce. That was in Utah.
Then we moved to California and where we lived there was no Albertsons. I shopped at Safeway and made requests for Danish Dessert and Lawry's Taco Sauce. My answer - "These items do not sell well in California. Therefore, we do not stock them."
"How do you know they don't sell well? If you don't stock them, of course, they won't sell well."
Imagine my delight when a new Albertson Store was built near us. They would order Danish Dessert for me but not Lawry's. My friends in southern California would bring me bottles of the sauce when we met for State PTA meetings. And then the Albertson stores in California began to close.
Now I go to Safeway's and Sam's Club. Once in awhile to Bel Air or Raley's. Some changes come hard.
Except, of course, I am always overwhelmed these days by the selections of food we have in these big stores. When we lived in Pakistan the grocery stores were very different than in the United States. The ones close to us were not very big. They didn't have much variety of canned goods. There was wonderful citrus jam unmatched by any I have tasted since. Fresh fruits and vegetables you bought from the vendors in the streets or at a street market. And those were wonderful. If you wanted chicken you went to the chicken man. He had live chickens in pens and you picked the one you wanted and he got it ready for you to take home and cook. That was a brand new experience for me.
It wasn't had to find sweetened condensed milk. Nestle's had a plant between two of the larger cities. I always wondered why they didn't have chocolate chips, too. But I never found those in Pakistan.
When we were in India for awhile, the grocery stores were small, also. You had to learn the names of what you wanted. I searched a long time for brown sugar until I learned that it was called jugary. And it was interesting that they have a jello-like pudding that sets up without a refrigerator. That's because many of the people where we lived in India didn't have a fridge.
Stores in Greece had lots of pasta and canned tomatoes but not many other canned goods. They had fabulous fish sections and cheese and meats and olives of every size and seasonings. I loved to walk around the cheese section and study the many and varied kinds of cheeses. After living in those areas, coming back to a grocery store in my own home town was overwhelming. I think the number and variety of selections had multiplied more than 10 times. Especially in the salad dressing and the cereal aisles. I am in awe of the many choices we have. It's hard to send anyone to the store for salad dressing. "Get me a French Dressing, please." Well, do you want lo-fat, lo-cal, no fat, lite, regular, zesty, etc, etc? Oh my!
Most of the things I buy when I grocery shop are pretty routine. Milk, butter, eggs, Bisquick, honey, Miracle Whip, carrots, onions, potatoes. But I love to look at all the choices that are there for me. Shopping is an adventure every time. Well, that's all for today.
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