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.

Meet Harry and Gladys

Harry & Gladys Scrapbook Page

 

My grandparents, Harry and Gladys Mitchell,  lived in the small sleepy town of Montrose, Iowa just a few miles away from my Powdertown home.  For the first twelve years of my life, I don't think a single week ever passed with out seeing them.  In the pecking order, I am number thirteen of nineteen grandchildren.  Harry and Gladys were taken away from us the year I turned twelve.  Even though they have both been gone from my life for thirty-seven years, I have never stopped loving or thinking about them.


I will be telling their story, not just for me, but for all of us who loved them and called them Grandma and Grandpa.  I hope you will stick with me for the next several weeks as I tell the sweet "love story"
of grandparent and grandchild.
 

Thanks for reading!

Powdertown: The Road Home

Powdertown: The Road Home

The end of this road leads to home, just as this illustration leads to the completetion of this series on Powdertown.  It sounds so poetic and orchestrated.  I wish I could say I planned it, but it is kind of cool how it worked out just the same.

There was one road that went straight through the settlement. It was lined with houses and ended with beautiful Chatfield Park.  There was no "through way" traffic so the road was perfectly quiet except for the hum of the everyday comings and goings of the neighborhood. Here we are heading home from the direction of the lake, passing by the apple tree and garden on the left with our house just beyond it.

My favorite part of this painting would have to be our cute little yellow tabby cat named "Mr. Chips." Mr. Chips was given to us as a little kitten and I'm not sure who came up with the name, put I am sure we all agreed to it.  I think it came from us all owning a "chip" of him, meaning he belonged to all of us equally.  That being said I think someone in our family took to him a bit more and treated him like her own special "furry" baby.  I don't think he minded being carried around as much as he minded being dressed in doll clothes!

Thanks so much for visiting.  See you back here in a couple weeks for my new series titled "Harry & Gladys."

Powdertown: Our Garden

Powdertown: Our Garden

The only thing that was longer than our extensive clothes line was our huge vegetable garden.  The garden stretched out almost the length of our back lot and was located behind Dad's workshop and adjacent to the apple tree.  The garden was massive and full of a variety of vegetables including: corn on the cob, green beans, potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, but best of all red, ripe, beautiful tomatoes!  One of my favorite things to do was to pick the tomato off the vine and eat it like one would eat an apple.  It was such a treat and so readily available.

Here we are with my little blue wagon, the real "work horse" of my childhood.  The wagon was not only good for playing and for walks to the lake, but also for helping out with chores.  "Little Blue" was small enough to fit between the garden rows and large enough to carry the daily yield of veggies.  Once the harvesting of vegetables was done, my Mom would start the laborious task of "canning."

Dad worked that garden after working long hot days in a factory and Mom would stand over a steaming pot for days "canning" veggies in a non air-conditioned small house. They didn't have to do this, they just did it!  I feel immensely blessed to have grown up in my family.  My parents always provided for us, taught us about hard work, and most importantly,  how to enjoy the simple things in life.

Thanks for stopping by this week!