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Project Discussions:  Winter Wonderland~December 2018  |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
3522 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
3522 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 03 2018 : 06:03:28 AM
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Connie, I remember that cold Christmas because we lost our power as well. Thankfully, we have two wood fireplaces and kept them both going. Neighbors came to get warm and enjoy something hot. We have a gas stove so I could still cook which was really important. LIke you, we had every quilt out on the beds !! I wasn't so terrible because it created a time when time was spent with neighbors and just simply enjoying the fellowship of each other and being able to have a location where people could come and escape the cold . It is a rare time when Florida gets this cold and thankfully, we had a new load of wood to keep tow fireplaces in use. It was a Christmas to remember!!
These days, I was love to have more cold spells! |
Winnie Nielsen #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Girl of the Year 2014-2015 |
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 03 2018 : 06:09:15 AM
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| I miss those days when neighbors came to visit. We rarely see ours unless something drastic happens. Of course we can only see our neighbors houses in the winter when the trees are bare. |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
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quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
4742 Posts
Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
4742 Posts |
Posted - Dec 03 2018 : 07:42:17 AM
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Growing up in Illinois we had times when we lost power. The heat was oil, so we ususally had heat. But everything else was electric. We've lost electricity here in Texas throughout the year - not only in the winter. And again I have only electric here.
My ex husband has a beautiful wood cookstove - 6 burners, 20 gallon water tank, oven, and warming ovens - at his house in California. I'd love to have it here, but not sure where I'd put it - probably have to rearrange everything and put it in the living room. LOL! It would be great to warm the house up. Since this house is 116 years old, it has high ceilings, so the heat rises up above us and the heating bill is high in the winter and A/C is high in the summer.
Ed has a propane heater in his small house and it warms the place up nicely. I think I will have him bring it here so we can use it - it would be cheaper than the high electric bills.
I have lots of quilts and keep some flat on the guest bed. They are great to cuddle up in. Power failures are not welcome - especially in the cold months. |
Linda B
quiltee
Farmgirl #1919
FGOTM for August, 2015 and April, 2017
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TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
5777 Posts
Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Dec 03 2018 : 6:59:19 PM
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| Yes, Denise it was right here...about four miles from our present home. |
Texasgran |
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TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
5777 Posts
Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Dec 03 2018 : 7:13:23 PM
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Have I told y'all the story of my first home? I was born in Seymour, Texas on up toward Whitcha Falls. We lived in Knox County in a community called Cottonwood Flat. My mother said it got cold early that year...1943. So by the time we came home from the hospital on the 22nd of October it was cool. A week later Grandma came to stay and help my mother who had a C Section. A bitter North wind howled outside so grandma took rags, towels, old clothes, etc. and wet them...stuffed them in the cracks in the north wall. They froze almost immediately and they were able to warm the room with the kerosene heater!I
Now in the early forties single walled houses, with no insulation, no closets, double layered wood floors, no sheetrock were very common.And the hot summer sun made the boards dry up and that left cracks in the walls. On the farm next to Grandpa...That was all we had. It was the middle of world war two. No one had much.
The house I give in now was built in 1952. The closet in our front bedroom has a single wall, but there is siding outside. Still it is a glimpse into the past for us. |
Texasgran |
Edited by - TexasGran on Dec 03 2018 7:18:34 PM |
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 04:21:35 AM
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Marilyn,
I remember my mom talking about doing things like that at what she always called "the little house". My brother and sister were born there. I think it was the first house they lived in after they got married. She had a name for every house they lived in. When they moved to where I was born it was the first house they actually owned and I lived there until I was married. They lived there for only 26 years. Then they moved to Florida and they were there for 22 years. In that 22 years they lived in 5 different places. My mom always said my dad couldn't stay in one place very long but living in one house for 26 yrs seems a long time. We have been in this place for 18. We were military so we moved a lot until we left service and bought our first home here. We lived there for 8 years. Went to Florida for 18 months, NW Pennsylvania for 8 months and back here where we bought the house we'd always look at when we'd drive by going to church. It was empty for many, many years. While we were in PA a builder purchased it and did a little facelift and it was on the market when we came back. It was built in 1897 and the only update was in 2000. It has a lot of farmhouse characteristics still left. So we've been here 18 years.
How long have you lived in your house where you are now Marilyn?
I would be interested to hear how long everyone has lived where there are and how they ended up there. |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
Edited by - levisgrammy on Dec 04 2018 04:26:30 AM |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 05:03:00 AM
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Great conversation. I love talking about houses and I believe they all have a story to tell. I've been in my "Little Eden" since Nov 13, 2011 when I moved to Paris. I came from a small town 100 miles west of Paris where I had lived in an old farm house for 35 years. I have family in and around Paris but none where I came from. I was born in Dallas in 1942. Just a year before my house I'm in now was born.
1943 Camp Maxey an army training camp was built outside of Paris. As WWII wound down it was no longer needed so was closed. Buildings were either torn down or moved. That's how my little house got to it's small yard in Paris. I should research Camp Maxey - would love to see what my house looked like before it was moved. It wasn't fancy built but solid as only an GI would.
The original house has 7' ceilings. The new addition built 15 years ago by the pervious owners has 8' ceiling. It runs the length of the eastside of my house and is divided into three equal size rooms. First is my walk-in closet off my front bedroom. Middle room is my bathroom which opens into the laundry room which has a south facing window that overlooks my Yellow Rose Cottage. It also has a door that goes into the kitchen. The original house was only living room, kitchen, two bedrooms, and bath.
Seven years ago when I was looking for houses I asked the Lord to find me the house I needed. And he did. It was like it had been remodeled and brought up-to-date just for me. So that's how I came to live in my "Little Eden". |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 05:18:44 AM
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That's awesome Sara. If it was moved from the camp it makes you wonder who lived in it when it was there.
The house I was born and grew up in was moved from property so they could build the nuclear school. It funny when I think about it. My husband went to that school and because he happened to go there and I lived nearby we met. He is from NW PA. so chances were slim but I guess you never know.
My parents actually had the back half of the house that was bought by two brothers. They each had properties around and they split the cost of buying and moving the house and put each half on a separate property they owned and then sold the houses. I went to school with the gal whose family owned the front half. It wasn't to far from our place |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
Edited by - levisgrammy on Dec 04 2018 05:19:32 AM |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 05:43:35 AM
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Denise I don't know how to go about finding out but it would be nice to know.
Interesting about how each half of the house ended up on their own piece of land. The old farm house I came from was moved into Howe in the 1960s from a farm west of town. Best I could ever find out it was around 100 years old by the time I moved.
Driving around Paris I have seen a couple of houses that look like mine before the addition. I have wondered if they were also moved into town from Camp Maxey. The produce manager at the grocery store told me his father has a sink in his barn from Camp Maxey. I bet there are bits and pieces of the camp all over Lamar County.
Just a bit of Camp Maxey trivial. Camp Maxey was named after Samuel Maxey who went to West Point with U.S. Grant; was an officer in Confederate Army; returned to Texas to become US Senator. His wife brought the first crepe myrtles to Paris - she got them from Paris. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 07:22:10 AM
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That is interesting Sara, about the little bits being all around the county.
Back then things were reused instead of tossed out. I think we have lost so much history that way. Just think, they wouldn't be dealing with many of the problems if people hadn't gotten the bug that everything has to be brand new. Now everyone is on the hunt for things they can re-purpose.
There is so much history all over our country and to think it is not really that old comparatively.
I remember how mom reused so many things for other purposes. She was very creative that way. Things she would do that just never dawned on me. She saved all the decorative jars that coffee came in and use them to keep critters out of other foods instead of keeping things in boxes. I do things like that now but she did it out of necessity. They couldn't afford to just go by it during those times. I have often thought of doing more research on the Depression and wartimes to see what they did and why.
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Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 08:19:50 AM
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Denise I just got off the phone with my oldest sister and we talked about how women used to re-use vanilla beans by washing them off - drying - and storing in sugar. A bonus was they had vanilla sugar for baking. I still do that.
I'm a jar hoarder and user. Never saw a jar I didn't like.
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FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
5777 Posts
Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 09:24:59 AM
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Sara, I love jars too, and I have a collection of old ones.
Denise we have lived in our old farm house for 23 years. |
Texasgran |
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TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
5777 Posts
Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 09:26:31 AM
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| Denise what branch of the service were y'all in?? When they relocated you did the service actually move your belongings etc.??? |
Texasgran |
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 11:32:46 AM
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Marilyn,
We were in the Navy. Yes, They did move us and our belongings. They came in and packed everything, but I never let them pack the china JT sent home from Japan. It never had a broken piece until we moved to Florida. We were no longer military that move. They would actually pack trash if there was any in the bucket. We heard that from a friend so we made sure there was no trash. They did that because they were paid by the weight. |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
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TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
5777 Posts
Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 3:43:17 PM
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| Thanks Denise. If Triston joins the air force, which it looks like he will do.....well anyway little sister argued with me when I said they would never have to move themselves. He wants to have a career in the military. Hadlee has never moved. When Wade finished their house she was three. The Amish made furniture was driven here in an old truck, those guys brought in every piece, put the beds and dining table together. Then a local furniture store showed up with mattresses, pillows, sofas, etc. I looked at my son and said, 'Wade that is the fastest, easiest move you will ever make...you did not do anything. Moving is lots of hard work. |
Texasgran |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 4:05:02 PM
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Up-town grocery shopping is coming to Brookshires where I shop. Starting on Thurs they will deliver. I'm so ready for it. I knew it was coming but didn't think it would be this soon. I will put my first order in Thurs or Fri. Still reading all about it so I don't know the fee yet. I do know they have a monthly & yearly plan but haven't found the price. Must say they didn't make it easy to read.
What I gather so far is Brookshires has contracted with a company to do the shopping and delivery. I wonder if it's the same company other grocery stores use. Brookshires' home office is in Tyler, TX and they have stores through-out north and east TX. Earlier this year they bought 80 Piggly Wiggly stores in La so I guess they are big enough now to offer home delivery.
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FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 4:14:46 PM
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I'm not sure what it is like now with the military and moving as it has been 28 years since we got out.
I've never heard of Brookshires, Sara. But I know there are many that have that curbside service where you can order online and then you can pick it up. |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 4:28:41 PM
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Denise Brookshires is in TX, La, and maybe one or two stores in Ark.
My sister lives in Lucas suburb of Dallas and Whole Foods which is 20 minute drive from her has delivered to her home. She was pleased with the produce. I don't know if Brookshires will offer curb service. The e-mail I received was about home delivery.
I do a lot of my grocery shopping on Amazon Prime & Prime Panty. Between Amazon and Brookshires delivering I shouldn't have to grocery shop unless I just want to now & then with my sister. It will be a energy saver and since I deal with fatigue on some level everyday I'm always looking for an easier way to do things. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
3522 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
3522 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 4:32:49 PM
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| This discussion is fascinating about living in old houses!! I love hearing all of the stories and how you came to purchase them and live. Old houses are wonderful and they speak of history and layers of so many families and different times.I grew up in a house that was built in 1949 and I came along in 1951. The home that we have now was built in 1961 and we have lived here for 39 years. Neither of these houses were that interesting but they both have given me a steady home with a place to grow up, then a place to raise our girls, and now a comfortable place to enjoy retirement. My little "Log Cabin" is the attempt to create a little history within the walls of the house I live in. It is working pretty well!! I am drawn to old and primitive things and this room is my MJF/Cabin "Eden"!! It is amazing how the wallpaper gives me that feel of a log cabin. When I show others my cabin, most reactions are rather polite. They don't get it at all!! LOL!! The Girl has a Log Cabin obsession!! LOL!! My girls just sort of laugh and shrug it off "Mom always liked old broken down kind of stuff"!! Yep! And I would say....Proud of it!! LOL!! This aside, I think it would be an honor to live in a piece of real history. While I think I would have loved it, it was never anything that made sense when we were raising our family. So, Farmgirls, LOVE those old beauties. You are the lucky ones to have been entrusted with a piece of our past. |
Winnie Nielsen #3109
Red Tractor Girl
Farm Girl of the Year 2014-2015 |
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 4:36:01 PM
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I don't blame you Sara. I order a lot from Amazon Prime and pantry. Some days shopping is too much. One reason I like the Amish market so close by. We don't have any of those services here.
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Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
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YellowRose
True Blue Farmgirl
2459 Posts
Sara
Paris
TX
USA
2459 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 5:06:19 PM
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Denise I would love to have an Amish market in town. Nothing is every perfect is it? Always something we would like to have or done differently.
Winnie I think your log cabin room is cozy and comfy. It tells me a lot about you and how you live your life. Within our own walls we can make our homes what we want them to be. I lend to Texas farmhouse meets English cottage with whatever strikes my fancy thrown in for good measure. |
FarmGirl Sister#6034 8/25/14
FGOTM Sept 2015 & Feb 2019
Lord put your arm around my shoulders and your hand over my mouth
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 5:17:39 PM
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I agree Sara.
Winnie, your log cabin room is you and it's part of the expression that makes you, you. Hope I said that right. I know what I mean but I'm never sure otherd do. Lol.
I am finally getting my house the way I want it. Taking a while and always seems there is a work in progress. But I enjoy the journey of it as well as the finished project. |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
Edited by - levisgrammy on Dec 04 2018 5:18:01 PM |
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quiltee
True Blue Farmgirl
4742 Posts
Linda
Terrell
TX
USA
4742 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 5:34:22 PM
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The old house I am in was built in 1902 (though the tax records said 1916 - I think that may have been the year they started taxing here?). When I bought it in 2010, it had been renovated by the people I bought it from. It was the living room, dining room, and kitchen down the right side of the center hallway and 2 bedrooms with a bathroom and closet between them (the closet only accessible from the front bedroom). At the far end of the hall was the laundry and miscellaneous room - 7' x 21' - formerly the porch. The fixtures in the two bedrooms are off-center, because for the bath and closet they took 3-1/2' from each room and 7' x 7' became the bathroom and the rest became the closet - the only closet in the house. Five-six years after I moved in I took the 8 feet of the laundry room that had a door from the rear bedroom and made it into a second bathroom. There are 3 lightning rods on top of the house with the twisted grounding rods on 3 corners of the house.When I bought it, the front porch had no railing - but I added it, because there was a picture of the house when the couple before me had purchased it and there was a railing. There is also an out-buildinng here that I use as my quilting/craft storage building. I found out that it was added on with an entrance from the laundry/porch in the mid 1950s, when her niece and grand niece were living here. The previous owners had it separated from the house because it was easier to level the house with it not attached.
As to the history of my house, I have been in contact with one of her great nieces - at least I was several years back. Mrs. Ragland, the daughter of the original owner/builder, lived in this house until she was 102, when she was moved by her neice to a retirement home, where she passed away at age 106. Mrs. Ragland's sister lived here with her until the sister passed away and Mrs. Ragland's niece and her daughter(s) lived here for a while, too. Mrs. Ragland was a spinster school teacher at the school in my town. Whenever I mention to people in town that I live in the Ragland house, most of them say they have been here - for a class project, picnic, or party with Mrs. Ragland - when they were her students. She taught many grades in the grade school during her tenure here, and even some of the younger residents here have heard of her from their parents or grandparents. I have asked for pictures of what the house looked like on the inside when Mrs. Ragland was living here, and one person said they would find some and send them, but haven't received them yet.
I love finding out what I can about the house and former inhabitants. |
Linda B
quiltee
Farmgirl #1919
FGOTM for August, 2015 and April, 2017
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levisgrammy
Scattered Prairie Hen Honcho
9530 Posts
Denise
Ohio
USA
9530 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 5:53:30 PM
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That is so interesting Linda.
Shortly after we bought this place the son in law of the man who owned it previously, a Mr. Schrier, brought a picture and the original survey of the property tof gI've us. Mr Schrier owned 16+ acres with the house but had sold off 3 lots of 4 acres and kept the rest. He was a chicken farmer and at one time there had been a fire here because we can still see pieces of charred wood in the tiny attic. It is not possible to get in the attic unless you crawl in on your belly. There are no floorboards only the rafters and insulation between. Probably why the mice head there in the winter. Anyway, when we tilled up our first garden we kept hitting pieces of cinder blocks. It seems they plowed under the outbuildings that had burned up. When we first moved here and someone asked where it was we would say the yellow house on the hill but found more people were familiar with Schrier's old house. |
Denise~~
Sister #43
"I am a bookaholic with no desire to be cured."
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path"
Psalm 119:105
www.ladybugsandlilacs.blogspot.com
www.torisgram.etsy.com |
Edited by - levisgrammy on Dec 04 2018 5:55:40 PM |
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TexasGran
True Blue Farmgirl
5777 Posts
Marilyn
Stephenville
Texas
USA
5777 Posts |
Posted - Dec 04 2018 : 6:41:58 PM
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Denise the way your mom gave each house a name...That is sort of !like what my mother did. Up in the panhandle, I was 4, we lived on the Lee Farm. I don't know if her uncle had it leased or if he owned it but my daddy was working for him. Then we moved to Snyder, out in west Texas. Daddy had built us a house out side of town. Sadly we only lived in it for three years because a thunderstorm happened, ( we were on a fishing trip) lightening struck our house and burned it to the ground. So then we rented for several years, living in the Drinkard house, one of five identical little houses, was a start,After the fire we lived in a one room efficiency apartment for a month, until mother could locate something larger. Another apartment sheltered us that Christmas and spring. Then Mr. Drinkard had a vacancy. When we moved to Snyder there were always drilling rigs running. Mother often said we lived in Christmas town. 100 rigs all lit up! Wow it was a sight for sure. That is why it was so hard to find decent living quarters for a family of five.
Then we moved across the street to the Harrell house. ( when I married my husband's grandparents lived in a house just like the Harrell house. Later when my mother in law remarried they bought a similar house. I guess it was a good house plan. Two bedrooms with a bathroom between them on the left and the living and dining room on the right. There was a butler's pantry between the dining room and kitchen. A sun room was at the back of the house. The house we lived in had French doors between The middle bedroom and the sunroom. The sunroom was my little brothers bedroom. He was afraid of crickets, at age seven or so, and often left his special room and slept on the sofa. There was also a door into the sunroom from the kitchen. Finally my parents bought a duplex, with plans to remodel it. Mother got a very nice kitchen...keeping room in that remodel. She kept the other kitchen as her canning kitchen. I was in high school, so I only enjoyed our 'new' place for a couple of years, then I went to college. |
Texasgran |
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Project Discussions: Winter Wonderland~December 2018 |
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Winter Wonderland~December 2018
