Pansy

Our cow Jenny was getting too old to keep our family in milk so Daddy visited some of the area dairies to see if someone would have a friendly little Jersey they would be willing to sell. When he came home he was happy to have found someone who said they had just the cow for us. Gentle, sweet disposition and a great milker who would be sure to provide all the milk we could possibly have use for. He had paid for her and they would deliver her free of charge sometime the following day.

The next forenoon John, David and I were playing outside when we saw the man come with the cow and unloading her in our pasture. We ran inside to tell Mom about it. She came outside as the man went on his way. We joined Mom to go to the pasture to have a look at our new cow. When we got close to her we saw why they wanted to sell her. Not only did she look older and more worn out than Jenny but her udder was practically dragging on the ground.

Daddy had gone to a lumber kiln to get more lumber for our woodworking shop and we knew he would be disappointed once he saw the cow the farmer had tried to give us. Once he came home and we told him about it we all went back outside to have another look at the cow. As we expected Daddy wasn't happy. There wasn't much we could do about it though and the cow obviously needed to be milked. He asked us to bring the milk pail and a cake pan. I ran to the house to get what he needed wondering what he would use a cake pan for.

After giving it to Daddy, he slid the cake pan under her udder and started milking. It was a slow process of sliding the cake pan in and milking a little bit until the pan was full then emptying it into the milk pail. After chores were done Daddy went to the pay phone at the corner store in the village and called a cattle dealer and told him we have a cow to sell and that we want a good one to replace her.

Several days later the dealer came and unloaded a pretty little fawn colored Jersey and took the old cow the farmer had sold us. We all admired her as she lay under our apple tree and chewed her cud. once chore time arrived we once again followed Daddy to the barn. This time there was nothing wrong and it didn't take long for the pail to be filled with frothy milk. As we were finishing up the chores we discussed what we would call our new cow. We didn't want to call her Jenny like the family cow before her, as we turned her back out to pasture Mom stood there watching her graze and turned to Daddy and asked. "How about Pansy?"

"Pansy sounds fine to me." was his reply. I said the name to myself a few times and decided I really liked it. A pretty little cow like that was perfect to be named after Mom's favorite flower.

Currently

Reading ... In the Bible, I'm enjoying reading through Matthew again. In fiction, nothing for myself at the moment. I have a big stack of children's library books here that I am reading to Steven. He has found himself a new favorite. Digger Dog. I've lost track how often I've read it to him. He's been reading it to me, and he has had the rest of the family each read it to him several times. I love how excited he gets about the ending every single time, even though he know exactly what is going to happen. In non fiction I've been reading books we'll be doing in school to help me better prepare the extras I want to add to their lesson plans. In other reading there have been letters, emails, and several blog posts.

Writing ... My writing so far this week has been blog posts, emails, and text messages. Nothing that great or exciting.

Playing ... Mancala. Steven has been on a kick of playing round after round. I enjoy it a lot so I don't mind.

Watching ... we recorded Food Network Star, but I find it so cringe worthy that I'm not even sure why I watch it. There's no one competing that I would really love watching if they got their own show, so maybe I just need to quit watching it now. I can think of a lot of better ways to use my time.

Listening ... to an Eastern Towhee sing loudly, right outside my window. So pretty!

Cooking ... I have some lovely bell peppers in the refrigerator waiting to be used. I'm thinking, for supper tonight, I may stuff them with a meat, rice, and cheese mixture. Lunch is looking like a surprise casserole where I take all the recent leftovers and create something new and yummy with them.

Eating ... Rosie Mae has been experimenting with brownies, tweaking things here and there trying to find something that comes close to being as fudgy as the ones that come from a mix has been challenging. She tried another batch yesterday. They were definitely the closest she's ever come to matching them, and she already knows what she wants to try to do differently next time.

Drinking ... still water. Sweet, fresh, cold water from our well is still my favorite.

Crafting ... nothing at the moment, though I have been gathering some things together for our next day of crafts. Really looking forward to it.

Wearing ... a maxi dress. I had bought it online in hopes to wear it to my brother's wedding, but when it arrived and I tried it on, it was not at all what I had envisioned. It's super comfortable though and perfect for wearing around the house.

Loving ... wild strawberries. We discovered a huge patch of them. Even though they're tiny and ever so time consuming to pick and prepare, fresh strawberries and shortcake can't be beat.

 

In Which a Pin Comes in Handy

It was our in-between Sunday and as usual we got up late. We were almost ready to sit at the table to have our breakfast when we heard a car drive in the lane. When we got up to see who it was we saw an elderly man who did a lot of taxi work for the Amish. Daddy went outside to see what he wanted. It wasn't long before we heard the car leave and Daddy came back inside. We immediately sensed that something was wrong. When Daddy said that Grandpa died we all started crying.

I didn't know this Grandpa all that well since we lived so far away, but I still wasn't prepared to hear that he had passed on. I had been working on a scrapbook for his birthday and now I would never get to give it to him. No one was hungry for breakfast anymore so Daddy hitched our horse to the buggy and went to see if he could find someone to take care of our chores while we went to the funeral. Mahlon wasn't quite two years old yet so they asked Grandpa Masts if they could take care of him till we got back.

By mid afternoon we had the suitcase packed and all the arrangements made and were ready to go. Our driver arrived in an old green clunker car. daddy sat in front and John, David, and I sat in the back with Mom. Once we got to Canada where the speed limit was posted by kilometers he got all excited and went speeding down the road. We passed everyone else and Daddy's explanation that kilometers and miles were different apparently didn't make any sense to the driver as we rushed on into the night.

Once we got to Grandpa's house a few men came out of the house to welcome us inside. As was customary, several families had volunteered to take turns to sit up all night until after the funeral. We were shown to a room where we settled down and slept the rest of the night.

When morning arrived we had breakfast with Grandma. There were lots of neighboring women and girls there cleaning the house and cooking and baking in preparation of the funeral. After we were done eating we sat in the living room where there were rows of chairs and benches set up. Since we were family we got to sit on the chairs close to Grandma. Other families from neighboring churches stopped by for a few hours to share their condolences and sit and visit quietly for a few hours. I had never been so bored in my life as the day dragged by.

Finally by evening Daddy's other siblings started arriving and all the cousins arrived with them. Our parents gave us permission to sit together. It was much more fun to have someone our own age to talk to. The next day we were still sitting in the living room and by now we children were all getting fidgety and so when our parents gave us permission we all went outside to play. We had so much fun that it didn't seem possible that everyone was gathered for a sad reason.

The day of the funeral arrived. As buggies started pouring in the driveway and lots of sober faced women and children dressed all in black made their way to the house I wished I would be young enough to sit with Mom and Daddy like John and David were doing. There was an older man telling everyone where to sit and when it was finally time for the grandchildren to sit down I wasn't very pleased to see I was sitting right behind cousin John.

Cousin John was big and enjoyed nothing as much as being mean to younger children. I always tried to keep my distance from him. I comforted myself with the thought that he would surely not try anything during services.

As the first minister stood up and started preaching cousin John shifted back until he was sitting on my knees. I squirmed and he sat forward a little. It wasn't long before he was on my knees again. His sister was sitting beside me, nudged him and hissed "Behave yourself!" He sat back even farther to annoy her, so she leaned over and told me to use a pin and stick it into him. he overheard and sat forward, but I prepared myself. I removed a pin from my apron belt and held it ready. The next time he would sit on my lap there would be a surprise waiting for him.

It didn't take long. As he shifted back I held the pin firmly and felt triumphant when he jumped forward. His parents happened to see the disturbance and his Dad made him go sit beside him for the rest of the services so my victory was even better.

Once services were over and everyone filed past the casket we all headed in a long procession of buggies that made their way slowly to the little graveyard. The horses walked the whole way and I thought we would never get there. Once everything was over we headed back to the house where the women from the community had prepared a big meal. It seemed nice to have everyone talking and visiting in normal tones once again. Once we were done eating it was time for us to go home again. We said good-bye to Grandma and the rest of the aunts, uncles, and cousins and started on our long trip home.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

1. Summer is upon us this week in the Northern hemisphere. Tell us three things on your summer bucket list.

Three things on my summer bucket list are:

Visit Coopers Rock, WV
Spend more time outdoors, hiking.
Schedule and prepare as much of our upcoming school year as possible.

We have checked Coopers Rock off our list already. It was breathtakingly beautiful, but the sheer height made me dizzy even though I was completely safe.

The hiking part will have to wait to be checked off until fall, because I want to get as much of that done as possible.

I'm really enjoying the last part, even though it is labor intensive. It is so nice to be able to see at a glance exactly what I will need for a week of school. The library books I'll have to get, the craft supplies I'll need, and the things to do science experiments. Plus as usual all the extras I add to the curriculum in order to dig deeper.

2. Something fun you used to do as a kid in the summertime?

Summertime was busy with all the gardening and food preserving we did, but there was always some time for fun. We used to love riding down our long hill on our wagon. Summer wagon riding was more fun than sledding in winter.

3. Rooftop or backyard? Why?

Definitely backyard.

Heights make me really dizzy, no matter how safe they are.

4. Do you read food labels? Place importance on them? Make an effort to find out/care about where your food comes from?

I read some food labels, and depending what I'm looking to avoid I place quite a bit of importance on them. 

5. A song you'll have on repeat this summer?

I don't know. Usually I wake up with a song playing in my mind. It lasts all day, no matter what else I listen to. I will catch myself humming, whistling, and singing it throughout the entire day. Thankfully each day has its own song.

6. Insert your own random thought here.

Since I mentioned our recent visit to Coopers Rock I thought I'd share a picture even though it doesn't begin to do it justice.

Good-bye Jim

John and I were walking home from school. The snow banks beside the road had dwindled down to sad dirty piles. The melting snow created a creek in what was usually an empty ditch. We dawdled along floating twigs in the stream and watched as the current carried them away, when we heard a horse and buggy approaching.

We looked up and were surprised to see Mom driving Jim. She stopped beside us and we climbed on the buggy wondering where we were going to, since a ride home from school was unheard of unless it was raining.

It didn't take long for us to notice that Mom seemed sad. When we asked her what was wrong she said a man was coming by that evening to buy Jim, and that she had wanted to drive him for one last time yet before he left us.

John and I weren't happy to hear that we would have to sell Jim. Mom assured us he was going to go to a good home and that he deserved to spend the rest of his life in a nice place where he would no longer have to pull our heavy buggy up and down those long hills.

Once we got home Daddy came out of the shop to unhitch Jim. Mom stood there stroking Jim and talking to him for a long time and then turned to go to the house. Her cheeks looked wet from tears and that was the last straw for me. The sobs I had been trying to choke back came. I went to pat Jim's velvety nose and tell him good-bye. He had been our faithful horse ever since I could remember and the thought that he would no longer be in the barn or out in his pasture to welcome us with his gentle whinny was almost more than I could bear to think about.

I went to the house to help Mom prepare supper. After we had eaten we heard a truck and trailer pull into the driveway. Daddy went outside to help load Jim. When he came back inside we got ready for bed.

The following days seemed a little sad when ever we went to the barn and saw Jim's stall with out Jim there waiting for us. Several weeks later we got a picture in the mail of Jim in a nice green pasture. He looked happy and it made me feel a lot better to know that he really was doing fine.