Harry & Gladys: Upstairs Adventure

Harry & Gladys: Upstairs Adventure

Are you surprised?  I know you thought the Harry and Gladys series was done and so did I but it turns out I had one more story to tell.  It wasn't like I just thought of it, I actually had it on the original list of illustrations,  but when it came time to sketch for this series I couldn't for the life of me figure out how to illustrate this story and all it's parts.....so it got scratched from the list.

This is a story about all the fun we used to have in the upstairs of Harry and Gladys's house. This story had so many parts to it. Sure I could have illustrated one part of the story and blogged about the rest of it but what is the fun in that I ask. This illustration helped me stretch my creative muscle and I'm really happy with my solution.  Just like every good adventure story there is a "cliff hanger."  LOL  You will have to show up next week to hear the rest of the story.

Harry & Gladys: The School Yard

Harry & Gladys: The School Yard

This series would not be complete without the mention of the school yard, most famous for the landmark "giant rock."  Many, many days were spent playing there with my cousins, almost too many days to count really.

In this illustration I really wanted to include the large rock but honestly we probably spent more time on the playground equipment.  And then when my younger sister wrote down her school yard memory I knew I needed to show us coming down that slide without any "blood shed!"  You will understand if you just keep reading.

Janell's Memory

One of the best parts about going to grandma and grandpa's house was the fact that they lived one block away from the schoolyard. Now being the second youngest of the 19 grandchildren my memories are very limited as grandma and grandpa passed away when I was six. However, I do remember when we went to grandma and grandpa's we always used to get to walk down to the park. One time in particular my sister was in charge of watching me when I went to play and the instruction that was given was not to let me go down the "big" slide, to stay on the small slide.

Well, being the typical little sister I begged and being a good big sister she relented and let me go down the "big" slide. Needless to say I got scared and grabbed the side of the slide on my decent and cut my hand on a screw that was sticking out. It wasn't much of a cut but I was screaming so it was hard to hide from mom, dad, grandma and grandpa. While my poor sister was getting in trouble for letting me get hurt, grandma bandaged my hand, wrapping my whole arm in an ace bandage because I was fascinated with casts.

Thank you so much for following along in this series about my grandparents, it has been a fun trip!  If you missed any of it here are the links.  Enjoy!

Meet Harry and Gladys
Silver Dollar
Needle and Thread
Chocolate Cookies
Watermelon
Ice Cream Treat 

Harry & Gladys: Ice Cream Treat

Harry & Gladys: Ice Cream Treat

I remember spending most weekend evenings at the Mitchell house.  After the evening meal Harry would offer all his guest ice cream.  Each week there was always a different flavor but the one I remember most frequently was what I called "striped (Neapolitan) ice cream."

The truth is that Harry really didn't eat all that much ice cream, Gladys would always have to eat whatever was left in the ice cream carton, so as not to let it go bad.  I am not sure how much she even liked ice cream, but I think living through the Great Depression, Gladys could never let anything go to waste....she saved every twist-tie, bread wrapper, margarine tub, etc.  Now as soon as the ice cream caton was finished, Harry would go to the grocery store and buy more ice cream!!!  When I think about this little cycle it makes me laugh!

I asked Dana to share some memories about Grandpa.

Dana's Memories

My favorite childhood memories occurred at Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell's house. When Jolene asked some of the cousins to share memories, it was hard to pick just one. So I picked two.

Grandpa Harry was a jokester, as has been mentioned before, and I remember a running joke about a giant lollipop that went on for months. However, it was a more tranquil memory that I love the most.

Grandpa always had to have an evening snack before bed and having lived through the Great Depression it wasn't fancy. He would have either bread (or crackers) torn up in a glass of milk with salt and pepper. Whenever I spent the night, I loved sitting next to him on his couch (Grandma and Grandpa each had their own couch) and having my own "Grandpa snack" with him.

Thanks everyone for reading this week.  One more painting left in this series.

Harry & Gladys: Watermelon

Harry & Gladys: Watermelon

Each and every year, at the close of summer, the little town of Montrose, Iowa gathers together to worship celebrate watermelon.  It is the same today as it was when I was a small child.  Free watermelon, free entertainment, and to my memory the best little carnival ever!

Here is an interesting tidbit......Did you know that my Grandpa, Harry Mitchell was one of the Watermelon Festival Founders?  I did not know that until a couple of weeks ago, so you could imagine my excitement as I was painting my Grandpa in an illustration about the very festival he helped create!  I couldn't help but think how "tickled" he might have been to see himself in this painting.

The Watermelon Festival is so much more than just a time to eat all the free watermelon you can, but it is really more of a "homecoming".  The adults bring their lawn chairs and gather around the bandstand to listen to the free entertainment and just sit and visit with neighbors, friends, and old classmates. Meanwhile, the excitement of the carnival and all it has to offer,  has the children buzzing at a much higher frequency.

When we were kids, we would really looked forward to the watermelon festival.  We would plead with our parents to let us spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa so that we would be close to the festival. The Mitchell's house in fact was very close,  we would spend our day running back and forth, begging for money to purchase more ride tickets and "yummy" carnival treats.  Turns out this was part of their master strategy, give us just enough money, but not too much, so that we would need to check back in at the house frequently.  Too think all these years I just thought we were really good at begging for stuff!

Thanks for reading this week!

Harry & Gladys: Chocolate Cookies

This was painted as a full sized illustration but as I was preparing for this blog entry I couldn't help but think about how this would be more appropriate as a recipe card. Somehow I feel that Gladys would have loved to share her recipe with you.

I said the very first week in my introduction that Gladys was famous for her chocolate cookies.  Now honestly I have no clue if she was the creator of the recipe, but even if she was not, she made them her own by blessing her family with their tasty goodness over and over again!

Now with permission from my Mother I will reveal her secret ingredient........bacon drippings!  Yes, yes, you heard it here folks. Warning!  Please check with your cardiologist before beginning this recipe.   If you decide to err on the side of caution and use shortening,  you will still love their deliciousness.

This week my cousin Dana shares her memories of baking with Grandma.

Dana's Memories

My memory of Grandma involves baking.  Just like all my cousins, I make and love her chocolate cookies, but I was fascinated when she taught me to make a pie.  She let me cut shapes out of the extra dough and sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on them for a special treat just for us. Grandma had a way of making every grandchild feel special and as if we were the center of her universe. She was never to busy to give you a hug and a kiss-or teach you to make a baked treat.

Thanks again for reading this week.  My gift to you this week is a free recipe card download. Make sure after you download the pdf, you set the size as 100% or "actual size"  If you just click "print" it will print it at 155% so you might want to adjust the size according to your recipe box.  Enjoy!




Gma choc cookie recipe card

Harry & Gladys: Needle and Thread

Meet Harry & Gladys
Silver Dollar

Needle & Thread

Gladys always seemed to be keep her hands busy.  I loved watching her work and was especially fasinated with her hands.  The skin on the back of her hands looked almost translucent and were silky soft to the touch.  

She made all sorts of things but my memories are of baby doll quilts and doll clothes.  I still have my doll quilt that is pictured above.  My daughter used it with her baby dolls and maybe one day her daughters will also.

My sister Julie and cousin Dana share this week: 

Julie's Memories 

"Grandma Mitchell taught me the basics of sewing when I was nine years old. We gathered in her warm kitchen to construct a winter woolen cape with bright red braided trim. We recycled a worn out wool coat of Grandpas and fashioned it into a smaller outer garment for me. I watched mesmerized as she powered her treadle Singer and seams magically appeared. She patiently answered all my curious questions. 

Over the years, she gently instructed me in sewing on buttons, hand piecing scraps of fabrics, and the lost art of tatting with fine thread and shuttle. She also taught me hand embroidery and fundamentals of crochet. I never saw her without a project in her hands.

She generously let me filter through her needles and hooks, threads, fabric and a fascinating button collection. She passed on both the love of sewing and the habit of always keeping my hands busy. Her patience fueled in me a passion for sewing and needlecraft. Little did I know at 9 years old she was giving me a gift that would span a lifetime."

Dana's Memories

"Grandma was fun to snuggle up with on her couch. She attempted to teach me how to embroider when I was older (it didn't take) and allowed me to play with the wrinkles on her hands when I was small-I loved to pinch her skin gently and was fascinated when it stayed that way."

Thank you for reading this week!

Harry & Gladys: Silver Dollar

Meet Harry and Gladys

Harry & Gladys: Silver Dollar

Can a silver dollar really buy you happiness?  I remember the days when it did.  Harry always seemed to have plenty of silver dollars jingling about in his pockets and he was always willing to hand them out to what ever grandchild might be visiting that day.

It was a great day when Grandpa would give us each a silver dollar and send us on our way to Smitty's to buy candy.  Smitty's was a little family owned grocery in Montrose.  They had an amazing assortment of "penny" candy.  I remember we would place our silver dollars on the counter with the cashier and then we would carefully select our candy piece by piece. The candy would then be placed in little brown paper bags and then we would be off and on our way.

The walk back to Grandma and Grandpa's always took a bit longer since we would have to stop several times to stuff candy in our mouths.  Once we arrived back at the house Grandpa would be at the picnic table waiting to see our sweet selections.  I think he really just enjoyed seeing our excited and extremely "sticky" faces.

Thanks for reading!

Fun Fact : Gladys had one of the prettiest and most fragrant yards in the neighborhood.  She had a long row of pink and white peony bushes that lined one side of her yard.  You can see them in the background of the "Silver Dollar" illustration.