Perms, Quilting, Canning, and Plowing

 

 My Mom just could do everything, a true jack of all trades.  She used to give her Grandmother Perms and of course go down to quilting gatherings as there would be a group of them all working on the same quilt.  Of course they would gather to do canning and different things.  Team sports you know  haha  and that is actually how Mom would even get canned goods as we had no garden...to small a lot I think.  Grandpa Eherman did not have a farm, but enough to have an acre for planting maybe.

Well I don't remember much at Great Grandma Thompson's quilting and hair things,  and we would have to take naps there...so upstairs we would go.  Well remember the feather bed, and a fireplace in the bedrooms.  I remember Grandpa would take us out to see chickens they raised and I think corn, as I remember the huge high fenced like so air would get in to dry corn, full of corn close by.

I remember the hand pump for well water at the kitchen sink...plus the big one out back.  At a young age I remember staying with Grandma and her sitting with me out closer to that out back pump was a sitting bench, no back on it, but a tree right there close.  Want to say that that is where the cherry's came from that she sat there and taught me how to pit cherry's.  Well she was really fast at it  hahaha and used a bobby pin, so gave me one and taught me how to do this.  I am sure I didn't get many pitted, but did learn.

On the quilting just remember it being Mom, Grandma her mother, Aunt Marion, Grandma's sister, and Great Grandma.  Well Mom took care of all their hair needs  haha  remember even going over to Aunt Marion's, so Mom could give her a perm.  Aunt Marion oh we just loved it, as she worked at the candy factory, of course I was older with that, but loved she would get us 5 lb boxes of turtles.  Carmel and nuts they were great.

Mom used to tell us stories, about when she was a child at her grandparents, she just used to love riding the plow horses...well she didn't really go riding of course. Her Grandpa would allow her to sit on them when he was in the field working with them  hahaha  So mom plowed fields as a child  haha

Mom might have told me because I had a love for horses and tied to that, a story my Grandma, her mother, would tell about me over and over.  As I asked my Grandma to draw me a horse.  Well hearing her tell it over and over too as she thought it so funny, I said to her, no Grandma that isn't a horse, that is a cow.  Well she thought she made a great horse I guess.  Remember spending the night with her, Mom maybe having more children who knows..but I slept with her.  And just like at home hearing all the time for most my life from Mom too,  "Be Still" and she would touch me and say that over and over  hahaha

Even in church I had to sit by or between Dad and Mom, the reaching over touching me meant Be Still  haha  as even with my legs crossed sitting that foot would just go bouncing.  I remember sometimes being on one side of Mom and she would make me move to by Daddy as i wouldn't sit still.  Well of course you start recognizing signals of different touches.  Heightened, don't know what I want to call it but an awareness of peoples reactions it kind of built into me.  Maybe it was things I would do then testing others I don't know.

I am sure looking at all my childhood even little like this, all played a part in why Daddy said to me that he thought I would never get married, as I would not submit to any man.