An Interesting Study

My friend Louise's mother was truly amazing. My mother of course didn't garden or have much home time. My grandparents had at one time a yuge garden and they did the preserving thereof, but that was long before I came around.

Grandpa and grandma turned fifty-five the year I was born, and although grandpa still farmed and milked cows, he had turned his hand to shoeing horses by that time, and that was his primary source of income.

It is an interesting study to study your fellow human beings. As I said, Grandpa was fifty-five the year I was born, yet he was far from retirement. I never thought about how difficult horse shoeing was and at his age. It was just something he did—all the time. Some days he had three (or more) horses tied and waiting their turn per day all summer long. Mostly people brought their animals, but on occasion he did travel to regular customers.

Horse shows were big back when I was growing up and when showing a horse you wanted them shod well to show well. He tried to keep his price low enough that young people who were showing their horses could afford it, but it still would run about $50.00 per horse.

At times Grandma would be blessed by someone giving her garden produce, usually tomatoes or apples. Grandparents had a neighbor, Mr. Weaver, who I don't believe drove a car. This neighbor also had a three acre orchard. Grandpa would on occasion do good deeds to help Mr. Weaver who in return would give Grandpa produce.

In season my cousin Cathy would force us to go berry picking. Well, honestly, we would go berry picking in spite of our cousin. My grandma made the best raspberry pies, but after a time we all grew tired of berry picking. Except Cathy who would at that time force as many as she could bully into the ordeal.

Back to Louise's mother. From sixth grade on Louise was my very best friend, and I spent a lot of time at her house. During the summer and fall her mom would can so much stuff. The house always smelled good from all of the wonderful things. They had a small house and a decent sized back yard, but most of the back yard was planted to a tremendous garden.

I still love the smell of tomato sauce simmering in the crock pot or salsa on the stove. Who can resist fresh home cooked applesauce with cinnamon? My grandmother always called hers applesauce. It wasn't until I was married that I discovered there's a difference between 'applesauce' and apple butter. What Grandma made was apple butter—no water added.

Yesterday I got my grape juice, the little bit there was of it, into jars, and some soup bones boned, into jars and some soup canned. I've wanted to do that for several years. I had a few tomatoes that needed worked up, so I added some of that to my soup stock. Nice addition for winter meals.

1 Thessalonians 4:9 "But concerning love of the brethren ye have no need that one write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another; 10) for indeed ye do it toward all the brethren that are in all Macedonia. But we exhort you, brethren, that ye abound more and more; 11) and that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your hands, even as we charged you;"