A Day in Big Valley

Shortly after LV and I were engaged Mom and Daddy sent our two kerosene cook stoves to a repair shop in Big Valley. There they would get all new parts and be repainted so they would be as good as new for the wedding.

Several months later we got a letter stating they were ready to be picked up. Daddy and Mom immediately began making plans to go pick them up. After hiring someone with a fifteen passenger van to to ensure the whole family could go along, they removed the last two seats to make room for the stoves. I thought it was rather strange that they wanted all of us to go along as usually if something like this came up Daddy would go pick it up by himself. After we got on the road it wasn't long before I sensed that we would be doing more than only pick up stoves. After we turned onto a road that I knew didn't lead to Big Valley my suspicions were confirmed.

It wasn't long before we discovered Daddy had planned a treat for us and made arrangements to get on the first tour of the day to Penn's Cave. As we all got into a boat we were ready to explore the cave. I thought it was quite interesting but still breathed a sigh of relieve when we got back safely. I much preferred being above ground.

We continued on to Big Valley where we spent the majority of the day visiting Daddy's aunts and uncles. Daddy wanted me to meet all of them before I got married. I had never realized just how many aunts and uncles he had until that day. I found most of them to be very boring people, they were friendly enough and always welcomed us into their homes. I felt a little awkward as we had to sit and visit a little before going on to the next aunt or uncle. In the one house the lady immediately wanted to give us all a glass of sweet tea. Going to the refrigerator she got several bottles of vegetable oil out and poured it into glasses. My stomach churned and I felt like gagging. I soon realized that she keeps empty vegetable oil bottles and uses them for other things, but it had made that I was no longer thirsty for anything. Watching for a chance I exchanged my full glass of tea with one of my brothers empty one. We were both happy to make the exchange.

After we left that house we went to a nearby store were Mom and Daddy announced I could pick out my wedding china. After looking at the many different patterns I selected what I thought was the prettiest. With it's pale flowers and silver trim.

Daddy pointed out the ones with bright pink or red flowers and asked if I wouldn't rather have those. They were pretty but I preferred the soft delicate pattern I had chosen rather than the more bold pinks and reds. After paying for it we went to pick up the stoves. It had been a long full day. Somehow with the stoves being repaired and the china purchased it made the wedding seem a little closer and there was still so much to do before then.

Interesting Recipes

A friend, knowing that I collect cookbooks presented me with a real gem. Printed in 1880. The pages are very lightly yellowed with age, but who ever had it must have taken really good care of it because it is still in surprisingly great condition.

I have been enjoying reading through it. Most of the recipes I wouldn't even think of trying their instructions nearly non existent. They range from incredibly bland and boring to some of the weirdest things I have ever heard of. There are some unique tips that I might try out some day but overall reading this book makes me very thankful that I got to grow up a century later when recipes had evolved to something much better.

Here is a sample of the things found in the book.

Pot Pie
One pint sour cream, two eggs, one teaspoonful of soda, flour to stiffen. Bake or boil.

Needless to say I will not be making it.

Breaded Eggs
Boil hard and cut in slices, pepper and salt and dip in beaten raw egg, then in bread or cracker crumbs and fry in butter. Serve hot.

There are instructions on how to prevent a felon and the several cures. All sorts of home remedies are sprinkled through out the book with no rhyme or reason. With no index and no categories it must have been hard to find what you were looking for.

According to this book plans made on a Sunday will not hold. Any promises made on a Sunday can not be fulfilled.

Cure for corns .... Easy shoes.

Chickens may be cured of gapes by inhaling tobacco smoke.  I don't have a clue what gapes are. And the thought of trying to get them to inhale tobacco smoke. Mind boggling!

Croup can be cured in one minute with sugar and alum. take a teaspoon full of fine alum mixed with twice sugar. Be in haste.   Yowza! I was always under the impression alum was not something you want to ingest.

I will be enjoying this book a lot for the vast amount of entertainment between the covers. And now if you'll excuse me I need to read how to cure all manner of other diseases in humans and animals, tucked charmingly between a recipe for ice cream and veal soup.

Spell Check

Thanks to someone not using spell check we got to fuel up at "punp" # 22

The Christmas Ride

Christmas day had been pleasant and it was bedtime. After our usual popcorn and apples and a story from Mom we all headed to our beds. Outside the stars twinkled in the winter sky. A few fresh inches of snow clung to everything and reflected the light of the moon.

It was a perfect night to burrow deeply under the covers on the bed. Just as we were drifting off to sleep there was a knock on the door. Daddy went to see who it was and found a stranger sitting on the porch clutching a bottle of whiskey and asking if Daddy could please give him a ride home. That he had hurt his leg and couldn't walk any longer. He said he lived up the hill a little ways and if Daddy could please give him a ride he would be so grateful.

Daddy could see that he was obviously intoxicated and needed help getting home. We didn't know everyone in the village but since it wasn't very far he offered to use our furniture wagon and pull it, giving him a ride home rather than hitching up our horse and using the buggy. He asked one of the boys to help him and David volunteered to go along.

The wagon with it's extra heavy burden pulled a little harder than they expected as they headed up the road. Once they got to the village the man told them to keep going that he lives a little farther down the road. They kept trudging through the cold, mile after mile as the man kept telling them just a little farther on.

When they finally got him to his home they dropped him off and turned around to trek all the way home. Weary from the long way they had walked they started riding down every hill they came to. David had a lot more experience riding wagons down hill than Daddy did so Daddy sat in the back and let David steer. I can only imagine what any passerbys must have thought meeting them in the middle of the night taking a wagon ride down the road.

They got home around 2:30 in the morning exhausted and went right to bed. We never did find out who it was they had given a ride to and it still  remains one of the most memorable Christmas nights ever.

Travels

Mom and Daddy still had a lot of things that they wanted to do while all of us children were still at home to enjoy it with them. Ever since LV and I were engaged they were planning everything they wanted to do that summer.

We would be making another trip to Canada to see Grandma and the aunts as one of our first events and stop at the U.S. side of the Niagara Falls. We had seen the Canadian side numerous times already and wanted to see what it would seem like to be able to stand right next to the falls.

When we got there we could see there was a lot of mist coming from the falls so before we got out of the van Mom and I exchanged our starched coverings for a scarf. We admired the power of the falls and then concentrated on watching a seagull with a broken wing and mangled leg as it tried to stay balanced at the edge of the river.

I felt so sorry for it and wondered how long it could survive if no one fed it or helped it out. 

Our driver took pictures and later gave us a copy. From left to right. Raymond holding unto big brother John's hand, David, Mom, me, Ivan, Daddy, and Mahlon.