Papa's Car

Connie's Kitchen

 {From the Archives of Connie's Letters, September 2007.}

Dear Mothers,

 Oh man yesterday I had to take my Mom to the hospital for tests. . Nothing to do with anything but..well she has a lot of good insurance and they give her tests on tests and don't even know what they do with the tests..they lose them..But I have to drive Papa's car over to her house to take her car and her to the hospital.."I don't ride in any car that doesn't have air conditioning," she tells me ..So I have to drive this nice car with all the windows up, barefoot as the dang thing actually has good breaks..and runs like a top.. And God knows as soon as my tour of duty is over I can't wait to get out to Papa's car and escape through the woods home..barefoot as I drive.."That's against the law," the queen yells..

In Papa's car I have to drive with the widows down as the muffler has a whole in it and my brother told me I would get asphyxiated if I drove with the windows up..I will get it all fixed before winter. Anyway Papa always drove with the window down anyway..even in the winter.. Always smokin and blowin the smoke out the window..When ya drive that car ya work at it as if you had pedals to push under the car.. But that's how Jim and I lived all the time anyway.. And I am just used to workin at drivin the car..

Well I didn't have a license for 38 years so I was never exactly at peace when I drove anyway..But now that I must chauffeur the queen, I must be legal.. 

My neighbor Chuck who mows my lawn with a tractor accidentally backed into Papa's car a few months ago . .But we deserved it as we had at least 3 or 4 trees fall into Chuck's yard when storms came..So I told him we were now even..He said he was ok with that..Well Jim would always go over and clean Chuck's yard after the trees fell in it...But ya know I never feel Jim's presence quite so keen as I feel it in his car.. "Oh Papa I could never get rid of that car." 

Love Connie

 

{Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints."  It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.* 

 

 

Homemaking

Connie's Kitchen

 

{From the Archives of Connie's Letters. September 19, 2007.}

 

Dear Mothers, 

 The Fall it seems is the time the Lord always calls so many of us back to the usual comfort foods that we have a lot of the year..Whenever I think of my family I think of how I started many comfort meals with a pound of hamburger. . Even if we were having company the meat portion remained the same..a pound of hamburger. . . I could be generous with the potatoes and beans or corn etc but the meat was a small amount. . I would make a lot of biscuits and gravy and vegetable soup with hamburger . . One favorite meal I made with wieners was this. . I would get out my big cast iron skillet and fry a pound of hot dogs. . You could fry onions and peppers in too. . the wieners, whole not cut up, and the onions in rounds. . Then when the meat was brown I would pour about 3 cans of pork and beans over this, drained. Then stir in about a fourth cup of brown sugar and a fourth cup of ketchup and a squirt of mustard. And lots of Black Pepper for Papa. . and salt. . Then bake this in the oven for about a half hour at medium heat. . 

Ya know, left over baked beans is good in sandwiches. . Back in the Depression Era? Meat was sometimes hard to come by unless your husband was a hunter. . So since beans had protein like meat the housewives used a lot of beans for meals. . I once read of a Depression era sandwich that I tried and love it to this day. . I eat it often. . You take some bread and spread some mayo on it and the left over baked beans. . You put a slice of onion on it and some lettuce and a slice of tomato. . This is my favorite sandwich. . But during the summers on the farm many families had all the vegetables and fruits they could eat. . So this was a wonderful Depression era summer lunch..

Wild man used to eat radish sandwiches with butter on them or salad dressing.  . He didn't like mayonnaise. . I liked it but never got any until after the kids were raised and left home. . For years I never got to drink instant tea unless we went some place as I couldn't afford it when the kids were home. .To belt out 3 bucks or so then for a jar of instant tea was out of the question.. I mean once in a while if we had extra money I got some instant tea but that wasn't often. . I made a lot of sun tea in those days..

I made sure, as the Depression era mothers did, to always splurge on Papa's coffee.  He didn't ask for a lot but I wanted to always run ahead of him and get him a name brand coffee to please him.. He deserved it and it took a lot out of him to work for all of us..So I tried to always have hot brewed coffee for him each morning before he went to work. Or on cold evenings if he was home late he knew Mama and the coffee would be warm at home waiting for him. . .

Most of my life I am waiting for Papa. . And now I am waiting to see him in heaven.  "I love you Papa if you are reading this. . . I am tryin to honor your memory and be an example to the kids." 

Love Connie

 

{Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints."  It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.* 

 

 

Old Time Country Mothers

Connie's Kitchen

 {From the Archives of Connie's Letters, September 2008.}

Dear Mothers,

Good Morning. I have been thinking lately about my Aunt Eileen's farm. . I remember when the beans from her garden were coming on in the summertime. . The farm women were always up early in the morning for chores. But in the afternoon they would all sit around the TV. . .  watching Soap Operas and snapping green beans to can when the soaps were over.

Gram lived in a little house on the farm property. . So she would help with the canning too. . Mom used to say, "Your Grandma would roll over in her grave if she saw how bad the soap operas of today have gotten." And oh yeah she would have.  I remember when I was about 7 and the Honey Mooners were first on TV. . Gram Canaday would stay in the kitchen but would say, loud enough for the family to hear it. ."He doesn't need to talk to her like that." Meaning how Jackie Gleason spoke to his wife. . . Gram thought the Honey Mooners was a dirty show. . Gram probably never tasted any kind of fermented beverage in her life. . Soda pop was a stretch for her. . She never drank that either. . Never wore lipstick. .When my mom and her sisters came home with fingernail polish on, their dad tried to wash it off with soap and water.

The housewives back when I was growing up wouldn't even wear shorts hardly at all, no matter how hot the summer was. . If they did have shorts on and someone talked them into going to town for something, they would say, "Well let me change clothes. . I wont wear shorts to town."

My mother wouldn't wear any colors that were bright when I was growing up. . She did later on as the styles changed. . But she would say. ."I wont wear orange, it is too loud". . Loud colors were colors that brought attention to the woman. .Women were to be quiet and lady-like and always under control.

Love Connie

{Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.* 

 

Hardworking Husband and Head of the House

Connie's Kitchen

 {From the Archives of Connie's Letters, April 2012.}

 Part 1

 Our Spiritual Journey in our marriage seemed to go from the deepest part of the ocean to the gates of Heaven.We were doing really well or we were giving up. .

In the 1970's we lived in this cute lil house. . It was just Jim and I and our son Jimmy who was about 4 yrs old. . Jim took a job that was about 7 miles away. . . We had no car.. I think Jim sold our car for some reason I forget now. . Anyway this husband of mine would have to start his walk to work about 2 hrs before he had to be there. . . He had to be to work in Marion at 11:00 in the evening. . He worked nights at a bakery a town away. . So anyway he would get off work the next morning at about 7:00. . or 8:00 when all the bakery produce was made. . So it was winter and if he couldn't find a way to work he would walk to work. And most of the time he did walk to work. . No buses around here ran this late. . 

My parents were always mad at Jim for leaving the family etc. . But my dad said when He found out that Jim walked to work mostly every day in the snow. . Dad said "Well the guy has some good in him to walk to work every day in this freezing cold weather." My Dad always provided for our family. . so Dad appreciated Jim's spirit knowing what it was like to be tired after work after being on your feet for 8 or more hrs. . ."Then to have to walk home?" This was before Jim was saved. . . My Dad's words sure were an encouragement to Jim and I . . We were young at the time. . . I was only about 23 yrs old and Jim was about 29. . . 

I remember I would fix us a snack before he left for work in the evening. . . Usually we had popcorn and Kool-aid and we would watch it snow out the kitchen window. . . I would worry about him walking so far to work in the snow. But he would always say. ."Connie I will be ok.". . . He always told me, no matter what kind of mess we were in. . "Connie we will be ok."

 

Part 2 (A message taken from the archives of Connie's writings, October 2013)

 

 I think it is my forever burden about the heads of house holds and the burden I have for them in our country. . I cry out for the women  of our country to encourage our men to listen to God without a Word spoken to our husbands.......We need to pray for our country...for our children and for our husbands..love connie

 

{Note from the administrator: This writing has been gleaned from the archives of Connie's letters. Find out more about the posts on this blog by reading this introduction. }

* Order Connie's book, "Dear Kitchen Saints," available on Amazon. It is autobiographical and tells the beautiful story of her marriage testimony! You will be encouraged in old time homemaking.*