Dear Grandma in January

January, 2019


Dear Grandma,

It has been close to 30 years since I have spoken to you. 
I am now nearly the same age as you were when I was first born.  I think my earliest memory of you is me  being picked up out of the metal crib and being held on your lap.  I have the impression that I was quite ill at the time, probably with a fever and a cold or even chicken pox.

All the changes that happened over that time.  It is terribly cold here these last few days.  I live in a rural area much like you did when you were my age.  As I sit here looking at the outside temperature gauge and listening to the wind howl I start to wonder how you managed  to live the life of a farmer's wife for five decades.
 You were brought to the farmstead as a bride.  I am pretty sure you wouldn't have had power back then.  How quiet the days must have been.  No radio. No fridge motor humming away.  Probably not even a  telephone for the first while.  Grandpa would be busy I imagine, feeding cattle and pigs in the barn, milking,  feeding chickens, working on machinery, hauling wood,  repairing bins all while you were in the house heating water, cleaning floors,  washing clothes and  making meals with only your thoughts to keep you company.  Newspapers were rare.  The Western Producer and the Family Herald were probably the main monthly papers  delivered to the post office 10 miles away. 
I envision you pouring over the Women's Columns in these papers looking at recipes and the latest news about fashion trends and family living advice which could involve gardening tips as well as serial stories  and advertisements for feminine needs.

I have kept a few of your recipe books, wire bound stenographer pads , that have cut outs from the Western Producer taped into them with some time honoured gems such as Tomato Soup cake,  Yorkshire Pudding, and even a recipe for a No Egg Cake.  It certainly would have been a challenge to bake anything in a wood stove oven without a proper temperature gauge with the only way to turn the heat up or down depended on the quality and quantity of wood placed in the hot box. 

Washing must have been quite the chore in the winter.  I do remember watching you hanging wet sheets outside on the line in minus 30 degrees temperature and hauling them in again a few hours later,  stiff and frozen and then putting them on the kitchen table to drip dry. 

I think of you going about your daily housework tasks primarily in silence day after day. The only sound to be heard would be the sound of labour.  Placing wood in the cook stove by first lifting the metal burner and hearing the clunk and consequent instant sizzle of the wood turning to flame especially if it was really cold outside. The clunk clunk clunk of the iron  being heated on the stove to smooth out wrinkles of every piece of linen and sheet, tea towel, work shirt, coveralls, and handkerchief.  Many a young bride was judged by her mother in law in those days by the white of her tea towels, the neatness of the linen cupboard,  and the crease in her husband's dungarees. 
I can imagine the sound of the handle of the hand pump creaking and squeaking as  it is pumped up and down until the swoosh of  cold water gushes out the spout and into the waiting wash basin or 
pail, depending on the chore at hand. 


I wonder if you sang or hummed a song or if you day dreamed of other times when you were with your sisters in town going skating or visiting with friends.  Would you be planning the next meal, or would you worry what you would wear to the next school social?  I know you liked to look nice as I recall you getting your hair done in home permanents often--no natural curly haired beauties in our family was there?

It will be minus 40 here tonight.  That is in Celsius degrees which actually is also the same on the  Fahrenheit scale so you will have a full understanding of how cold it really is...at least that is one thing that hasn't changed. 

Hope all is going well.  Say hello to Grandpa for me.  I know he is probably close by.  Think of you both often.  

Love and miss you,

Penny 

A Forever Blessing

95th Anniversary


Tomorrow would have been, although I would rather say will be, the 95th anniversary of my Grandparents Edna and Edgar Dixon.

I cannot help but wonder about the happy bride and groom as they planned the modest wedding and family reception.  There seems that I once saw a picture of them sitting in a horse drawn cutter to be whisked away to their home on snow covered prairie ground.  I am not sure if they had their house already built by then but if not it was soon finished as by the following September my father was born in the family home.

It must have been so exciting to finally have gotten married as they were sweethearts even before Grandpa went overseas to participate in World War 1.  They were neither of them yet 23.  Young and in love with hopes and dreams and plans the same as any young couple today starting out.

All in all they had a pretty blessed marriage.  Three children were born and three children lived to adulthood.  Many grandchildren...16 in total-- called them Grandpa and Grandma and all lived for most of their lives within 15 minutes of their home.  Great Grandchildren were born as well. 

The farm prospered.  As new machinery became available combines, tractors, and automatic grain auger's were purchased and horses, binders, and thrashing machines were put to the side.  Gardens were planted on the top of the most clay soiled hill in the yard and water was hauled and weeds were scraped away by diligent hoeing.
Snakes sunning themselves on the back steps were annually tolerated as one carried milk pails and clothes from the line into the house.
 The cattle were 'let go' on the suggestion from the doctor after Grandpa had a 'heart' scare.

The living room tube radio was upgraded to one with transistors-- although the 'new' car...a Ford Comet did not have a radio but  it did have a clock with a minute hand instead.

Grandma could afford to have new dresses tailor made by the lady in town and did so for years although the tradition was affected somewhat with the predominance of women wearing fortral pants from the Eaton's catalogue.  There were a lot of whispers  and giggles of 'Come see.  Grandma is wearing pants." the first time she stepped into the porch in sharped creased black slimming slacks.

Dishes on the farm were washed in a washbasin on the kitchen counter and water was boiled on the stove.  Rinse water was poured directly onto the dishes and special tea towels were used for blackened pots and pans from the wood stove.  Clothes were hung out to dry or freeze as the weather would allow.  Water was collected in the cistern for washing clothes and drinking water  came from a well by the barn and kept in a pail in the porch with a dipper and brown stained cup beside it. Baths were taken in a tin tub and water from the cistern was pumped from a hand pump in the bathroom.


The coal furnace in the basement was changed to one that used oil.  The cook stove was switched to electric.  The wringer washer was never swapped over for an automatic even after the move to Town,  although for their 50 anniversary a clothes dryer was purchased by the family and installed while anniversary celebrations were taking place in the church basement.   For their 40th anniversary the family bought them matching  electric lamps for their bedrooms,  There had been a small gathering of just the three children and their spouses going over for an evening of visiting.

Black and white television became a reality after about 30 years and then a colored set was finally purchased upon moving off the farm.

Grandpa upheld the family tradition of acting as the Secretary Treasurer of the local country school as did his father before him until its closure in 1964.

They attended whist drives, box socials, school dances, church services, and went to town once a week on a Saturday--often picking up this granddaughter who had the duty of buying the groceries from the carefully written and exact list supplied to her from her mother, Groceries could be charged at that time so sending cash along with a child was not necessary.   

Health and prosperity followed the young couple .  Apart from some common ailments such as bunions, goutier, and high blood pressure both members of this faithful couple enjoyed a life of activity and general good health until they left left this earth

One trip to Winnipeg was made for a reason unknown to this granddaughter.  Winters were a time to crochet  or knit  for new grandchildren and grandpa spent many hours down in his little 'shop' doing woodworking projects.

Their marriage on the farm lasted over 50 years.   Grandpa left the family first and Grandma lived on in their town home for many years and finally moved to the nearby  Seniors Home.

They no doubt endured disappointments in life. They may have actually argued with each other.  Perhaps there might have been some serious worries and frustrations with finances, family worries, or neighbours, but if there were I have never heard anyone mention them. 

To me they were simply Grandma and Grandpa.  Their house was always a welcome and safe place to be and little did they know that 95 years after this special day in their lives  there would be a granddaughter writing about them and sending the message about them  out to whoever wished to read it.

November 10, 1922 was a very good day for Edna and Edgar but I would say that I too was blessed .