Saturday, January 30, 2010

Grandma Eastman's Aprons

I don't think kids today know what an apron is.

The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath,because she only had a few,it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.

It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears.

From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half- hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.

When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.

And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms.

Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.

Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.

From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.

After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.

In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.

When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.

When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the menfolks knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.

It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.

Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool. Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.

They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.

I don't think I ever caught anything from an apron.

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Yikes!

Got up this morning, Molly wanted out so I opened the curtains on the deck door. . . WHEN DID WE MOVE TO ANTARCTICA?????
The wind, the drifts the cold. Black ice, SUV drivers who think 4 wheel drive = 70 mph on the interstate. I-80 was littered with SUVs or as my boss refers to them, Suddenly Upside-down Vehicles. I hate the cold, I hate the cold, I hate the cold. I found out today why you should make sure your battery post and cables are clean and not covered with blueish-green corrosion crud. Apparently the electricity needed to start your car, especially when its this cold, can't happen if there is crud on the post. Jerry and Dave at work braved the cold and wind and jumped my car. Did I mention I hate the cold? Anyway as I sat at work and watched the wind move the snow around like sand dunes I found myself wondering what did the pioneers do when it got this cold? I sure they didn't whine, they just put on another layer and went about their business. Even with all the wind, snow and cold, God gave us one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring sights ever. A Gold and yellow sun dog this morning. It was gorgeous. And then on the way home after work there was another sun dog, a more tradition one with grays silvers and whites. So I quit whining and feeling sorry for myself and griping about the weather, cause even in all this bleakness, God reminded me he is still here, so don't sweat the stuff you have no control over. Take comfort in knowing that God is in control and after a winter like this He will provide a spectacular spring.
Stay Warm!