My Father's "First Home" and my "First Home" - one and the same

Dad and I are spending the week together. This event of living together last occurred during the summer of 1968, just before I went to college.  A lot of time has passed since we last shared a car or refrigerator.  Need I say more? (He is now 91 years old, and let's just say I am of "a certain age.")

So now is the time to poke around his library and "catch up" on scenes from the past. Going through his written memoirs, I came across a story he had written about the house where I lived from infancy through age 7.

Here is what Dad wrote about that house in central Texas, the same one where I spent my early childhood:

The First House I Remember by Charles W. McCarroll (likely written in 1990)

The first home I remember was the McCarroll house located about a quarter-mile north and west of Mereta, Texas. This house, built in 1902, faced east about 75 feet from the county road. This wood-siding shingle-roofed structure originally had four rooms and a front gallery supported by turned-post spindle brackets. The front door had an upper glass etched in a wreath design and a matching carved wood planting on the lower panel.

The entrance door opened into a wide hall. Three rooms were to the right, including the kitchen and a room to the left.

Pa McCarroll added three rooms to the north divided from the original house by an open hall. This addition was for the parents and children. A shed room was built on the west of the original house as a room for Loraine and as a screened porch.

The hardware consisted of designer rim locks and hinges on six panel doors. The floors were tongue-and-groove pine. A hole in the corner of the room was for telephone wires when aunt Mollie was the switchboard operator for the telephone system.

The walls were covered with flowered paper pasted to tacked-on canvas. A strong wind would cause the paper to bulge. The walls were ten feet high and ceiling was wooden "beaded ceiling". The windows were operated by the weight and pulley system.

The kitchen floor was covered with bright Linoleum. The large, black wood-burning cook stove was near the west wall. A water faucet was on the north wall, which also included a flour bin. A breadboard was against the east wall. A long table covered with oilcloth was placed near the south wall of this kitchen.

Each of the legs of tables, cabinets and beds were set in metal jar caps and filled with coal oil to discourage ants. A crawling baby was sure to get into the ant traps.

The milk cooler sat on the porch north of the kitchen. This cooler was constructed of galvanized metal pans that were stacked as shelves. The top pan was filled with water and cotton clothes were dipped into the water and covered the outside of the pans. The dampened cloths acted as an evaporative cooler for the food inside.

Near the southwest side of the house was a cistern made of metal. Guttering under the eaves of the house gathered rainwater for use in the house. The well was about 30 feet west of the house. The windmill pumped the hard-tasting water into a tank and also piped it to the barn to water the livestock.

A grove of Chinaberry trees grew between the house and barn. The Barn was painted red and had a hayloft above with grain storage and a harness room on the north. A hall with double doors on each end allowed a wagon to drive through. The shingle roof was mansard and there was a hay door on the east. Sheds had been added to the north and south for stock and the fences were wide boards on cedar posts.

Toward the barn, a path led to the outhouse south of the barn area. North of the house, the land was in pasture. About halfway down the hill was a little house for the hands and at the bottom of the hill was another windmill and garden.

This house was so cool and comfortable in the summer, but I remember the cold days by the heating stove. We also had a portable ‘Perfection’ kerosene stove.

This house was the same one he returned to with a young family after WWII.  The house was re-opened, remodeled, and Dad began farming the family 600 acre plot surrounding the farm house for about ten years.

 To read his remembrances of that "new" house conjures up memories for me about that same farm house of my childhood.  (Note: 100 years have past since that house was built.)

Dad did not mention the well water that had to be boiled each season when the "well turned over".  I still am uncertain about what it meant when the "well turned over."  I just know there were tiny little red worms in the bath water a few times a year.  We kids were told not to worry about it.  (??)  Wouldn't you?

Another of my memories is when a dust storm hit West and Central Texas farms, and 1/4 inch of dust was left on the window sills and floors after the two hour gusts abated.  Dad said he used a shovel to help pick up the dust and silt inside the house.  I remember it was black as midnight in the middle of the day during that dust storm.

And I remember the big cabbage red rose wall paper in the bathroom with the porcelain claw foot tub.  Mother put that up right before I was born.

Are your memories of your first house still vivid in your mind?

Favorite Audiobooks Currently on MP3 player

This is a partial listing of books I've been listening to, along with a few quick notes about the books/authors.

Excellent! one is The Help by Kathryn Stockette.

Set in the late 50's, early 60's, five characters speak in Southern dialect about racial issues and social mores that keep you wanting more from this author.

Anything by Swedish author Stieg Larsson, such as this one available at our local library:

Larsson is a mystery writer, and his character action takes place in Scandinavian areas.

The Good Apprentice by Iris Murdoch: (read most of her books in the 80's, and she is still going strong)

Olive Kittridge by Elizabeth Strout (give it an "A" score)...

This is a toughie, and another excellent reader which makes listening a pleasure.

Any of Jane Austen's books ... see them here on Amazon!

Failure to Appear by J.P. Beaumont (he has a series, but this is the only audiobook I could currently catch at the library). 

A Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton.  Here is what a Ravelry friend said about it, and I concur:

That narrator is magnificent! She’s doing wonderful Australian accents, mixed with English, Irish and the occasional AMerican (which seems to be the only one she can’t swing btw). It took me a while to get sucked into the book, but now I’m finding it to be wonderful!

So much to listen to, so little time.

Toad House

An easy way to make toad and frog houses for your hopping critters can be accessed here.

With that process in mind, a bit of looking around on the internet came up with some classy accommodations for toads that can be purchased here (picture also courtesy of that site):

DIY showed the handmade toad house below.  That required a clay pot, glue and pebbles.

Our backyard toad is a big fellow, so he needed a fairly large opening for an entrance.  Using a galvanized steel vase turned on its side and half filled with dirt, here is what I came up with:

It took several days for Mr. Toad to find his new home, but hopefully we can keep this renter through the rest of the summer.

Amazing how his toady skin is camouflaged in the dirt!

Yet Another Scarf: Beehive Pattern

This project was supposed to go down to Dallas in a week to keep my hands occupied with a fruitful occupation.  But, dang it, it got finished before I even left!

The Beehive Scarf, found here as a complimentary pattern from Tilli Thomas, was knit with a beaded yarn that came from Livermore, Colorado.  I found it online from Bountiful Yarns.

Finished dimensions: 71" x 9"
Yarn: wool and silk, with glass beads about every six inches throughout

It sparkles! 

Fortunately, there is another project in the works that will travel to Texas in a carry-on.

(Ravelry friends, this page shows all the details of the yarn.)

GoD and DoG

Over two million people have viewed this on YouTube.

Get-Away with Friends, Alpacas and a Fiber Mill

The past few days were spent in a cooler weather clime of  Hot Sulphur Springs, a small Colorado mountain town.  A trip over the Continental Divide and to the top of Trail Ridge Road outside Estes Park provided us with outstanding scenery.  This is a picture of a glacier field at the top of Rocky Mountain National Park, at an altitude of over 12,000 feet above sea level, where it was cool and rainy:

Outside Granby, Colorado, friends Dotty and Natalie found a fiber outlet alpaca farm, mill, and store called The Lonesome Stone.  Owners Marv and Linda Dewey of Lonesome StoneNatural  Fiber Mill and store have over 70 alpaca on their ranch.

Here are some young alpaca catching a few sun rays between rain showers in the high country:

Linda Dewey, one of the working owners of Lonesome Stone, was kind enough to show us around the mill, explaining the carding process of the wools all the way to the hand painting of the finished yarn.  This is Linda with one of her two Great Pyrenees who work with her in the mill:

More photos of the inside of the mill:

(this is a picture of the bottles of concentrated  dyes used in the hand painting of the yarns, a few of which are shown below, along with a shot of some yarns available for sale in the front of the mill:)

Yes, we spent a few dollars on some luscious yarns. But more of THAT later!

Thank you, Linda, of Lonesome Stone, and Dotty and Natalie for a great trip!

New Tricks TV Serial

Being big fans of Netflix and BBC Television, the better half found a BBC television series called New Tricks.  The link from Wikipedia is here.  It gives a rundown of the stars, background of the show, etc.

The most interesting parts of the show IMHO (we saw just the first one hr. premier) were: 1) all the characters were at LEAST sixty years old; 2) the main character, Amanda Redman, is a woman with a few extra pounds on here, quite bright without being too cynical; and 3) the catchy lyrics in the theme song.

Take a look and listen:



The lyrics go something like this:

It's alright, it's OK, doesn't really matter if you're old and grey.
It's alright, it's OK, listen to what I say.
It's alright, doing fine, doesn't really matter if the sun don't shine.
It's alright, it's OK, make it the end of the day.
Hi-tech, low-tech take your pick, you can't teach an old dog a brand new trick.
I don't care what anybody says.  (Dennis Waterman)

This BBC series is a testament to all invisible older women:

Aside from the recent Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, there is a general absence of older women used in advertising, signifying a cultural obsession with youth and beauty, and reflecting a societal contempt for older women, affecting their self-esteem, and encouraging younger women to become petrified of ageing.

This is the finding of research by Dr Lauren Rosewarne of the University of Melbourne which looks at the portrayal of older people, and especially older women, in advertising. Her research will be presented on Thursday 6 July 2006, at the Annual Conference for Psychology Specialists Working with Older People (PSIGE) - part of The British Psychological Society - at the University of Sussex.

After analysing 177 outdoor advertisements, Dr Rosewarne found that less than four percent of the female characters that appeared were portrayed as being over 30 years old, and none were portrayed as being over 66 years of age. It was also noted that when older women are portrayed in advertising, their presentation is vastly different from that of younger women, with older women often being cast in stereotypical and negative roles such as the nagging mother-in-law, or brothel madam.

The research suggests that instead of being due to aspirational marketing strategies that don’t deem the older woman a figure of ambition, the absence is actually demonstrating the function of advertising as a mirror to society. While the mirror fails to be reflective of real age distribution in society, it is successful at reflecting contemporary societal contempt for older women more broadly.

Detective Chief Superintendant Sandra Pullman (Amanda Redman) is my new hero.

Crocheted Smart Car

But would it go through a car wash and not have its drawers drooping?

Flickr user, Start the Day, shares this fun sight caught out on the streets of Rome.

Knitted Wire and Beaded Bracelet

Attempting to make a bracelet with about two hundred 4-10mm glass beads, I was hung up on a technique relating to securing the beads to a flat surface. This video was helpful:

and here was good information and a free pattern to make another attractive bracelet.

With stretchy cord in hand, the first attempt was too bulky.  Rip.  Out it went.

There was another attempt at beading a bracelet, but the fiber was polyester, too thick to easily bead, and  too glitzy:

A third attempt at beading yet another bracelet using waxed weaving floss (a small diamater orange macrame thread) resulted in this clash of colors:

Below is a picture of the final cuff.  It was made in a similar manner to that found free at this site. Not only did I end up knitting on size 3 needles and copper wire, but also added embroidery floss crocheted edges.

At Spun Magazine, the author of this pattern says:

If you are one of those knitters that has to touch every yarn you see (and owns a good bit of it), then you probably look at the myriads of beads on the market with an envious eye. All of those colors and textures are just begging to be tried. But – how can you possibly knit with every yarn and learn to bead at the same time? Here’s a logical solution: knit with beads.

Like you, I like to try new ideas, but so many seem to take too long to learn or too much of an investment. That is what led me to design a beaded bracelet that a beginner knitter could do with expert results. While knitting jewellery is a bit more tedious, in just a couple of hours you will have a piece that costs hundreds of dollars at a jewellery show (and you can say you knit your original yourself). 

There are thousands of beads: glass, crystal, gemstone, clay, wood, etc. Any of which could be incorporated into a unique piece of jewellery, but for a basic bracelet (shown here in blue topaz, crystal quartz, and aquamarine) I recommend beads approximately 4mm in size.

Give it a go and made a beaded bracelet, if you have the will.  It is not a project for the faint of heart.   I'm thinking that was my last beaded bracelet knit with wire the size of dental floss.

Faces in the Garden

Today's blog title was unabashedly stolen taken from a similar post by a fellow blogger who writes Awake with Charm & Spirit.  Please go to her link and see some beautiful photography in her garden.  I would show it here, but it is copyrighted.

Kiki's posting back in June made me think of the many faces in my garden, so with digital camera in hand, I searched  in my garden early yesterday morning.  This is what I found:

A Mother Mouse and Baby in a pot of flowers on the patio, and this:

A turtle and a toadstool in with ground cover.  And,

this Laughing Girl was with some marigolds was right out in plain sight.

In fact, I found so many faces (and even forgot to take a picture of the rooster's face on the weathervane), that I made this video of  Faces in the Garden:

Music: " Heavenly Day" by Patty Griffin

Fourth of July Patriotism

Cupcake picture courtesy of Ginger:

On Ginger's blog, she gives the easy recipe of how to create these patriotic cupcakes!

Is your American flag flying outside?