DAY 56 - COUNTING DOWN TO THE 50TH

Good Morning, Class of '64

Family Life - Vincent Evans

family quilt poem

 
unknown

Our family is a patchwork,
with kindness gently sewn.
Each piece is an original,
with beauty all its own.
With threads of warmth and happiness,
it's tightly stitched together
To last in love throughout the years
Our family is forever!

Rejoice with your family in 

the beautiful land of life!
Albert Einstein

The beauty of the house is order;

The blessing of the house is contentment;

The glory of the house is hospitality;

The crown of the house is godliness.

~ Anonymous

- See more at: http://thewallofgodstruth.blogspot.com/2014/03/contentment.html#sthash.6zHGHBBk.dpuf

The beauty of the house is order;

The blessing of the house is contentment;

The glory of the house is hospitality;

The crown of the house is godliness.

~ Anonymous

- See more at: http://thewallofgodstruth.blogspot.com/2014/03/contentment.html#sthash.6zHGHBBk.dpuf

When you look at your life,
the greatest happinesses 

are family happinesses.
Joyce Brothers

Front Porch - Jamie Frier

Sundays with Larry

Family Evenings

Our evenings were almost always spent together. After we got electricity, Mason and I spent some evenings in the shops.

Harvest Time - Nancy Lee Moran - http://www.nancyleemoran.com//HT2007.html

In the summer and on warm spring or fall evenings, we all gathered on or around the front porch. The porch faced west and usually had a cool breeze. Dad and Mom sat on the porch swing, Mason on the edge of the porch, and I played in the yard. 

Michael Dumas - http://www.natureartists.com/artists/artist_eCards.asp?ArtistID=54

Mason was usually busy sharpening tools, making handles, etc. I often got roped in to holding whatever tool he was sharpening. I spent a lot of hours standing on the mowing machine cutter bar or a scythe blade while he filed them. Dad and Mom did most of the talking, usually about the weather, crops, livestock, the garden, the neighbors, and future plans. Mom was always darning socks, sewing, or crocheting.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/22/private-life-jane-smiley

We had all worked hard and lost a lot of sweat that day. The sun going down and the almost-constant breeze made the evenings a very pleasant time. The evenings on the porch were a great way to slow down, to rest and relax, and to gather strength for the next day, a wonderful way to end the day. No doubt I, as a child, found great peace and security in those evenings.

Kerosene Lamp

Cold weather evenings were completely different. We spent the evenings together in the living room. Our “central heat” was in that room, and we had only one good kerosene lamp so we were pretty much confined to one area.  

Listening to the Radio

We listened to the radio a lot more in the winter. Dad always listened to the news, Gabriel Heater until he went off the air and then Lowell Thomas. I can remember programs like “The Jack Benny Show,” “Amos ‘n Andy,” The Inner Sanctum,” “Gangbusters,” and “Gunsmoke.” We could always get country music on WWVA in Wheeling or WCKY in Cincinnati. Some friends from Maine told me that they listened to WWVA when they were growing up; it had a powerful signal. On Saturday nights we could often get the Grand Ole Opry on WSM, Nashville. All the country music shows closed with a gospel song. Of course, WDNE in Elkins was out source of local news, weather reports, and death notices. We heard several championship boxing matches on the radio.

Yellow Jug and Hickory Nuts

We often had snacks on those long winter evenings. We popped homegrown popcorn in an iron skillet. We had apples almost every day. Cracking and eating hickory nuts was another great snack.

Mrs. Mead Darning Socks - Rose Mead

Mom worked almost every evening - sewing, quilting, darning socks, and crocheting. In later years, she wove rag rugs. I usually had my nose in a book - still do.

Boy Whittling - Winslow Homer

Mason was usually busy. He sharpened tools, made handles, or worked on his inventions. He made a stock for a shotgun - most of the whittling was done in the evening.

Reading the Standard - Charles Spencelayh

Dad sat in his easy chair in his bedroom slippers with his feet propped up on a ladder back chair in front of the stove. I use a recliner and don’t have the stove but sit the same way.

The Draught Players - Robert Gemmell Hutchison

We often played games and worked on jigsaw puzzles. We played a local card game game called Setback. We played checkers and Chinese checkers a lot. We had a homemade game called Fox and Geese. It was played on a game board drawn on cardboard. It was shaped like a large cross with each area bisected with perpendicular and diagonal lines. Two large buttons were foxes and about a dozen small buttons were geese. The players moved alternately from one line intersection to another. The foxes could capture the geese as in checkers. The object was for the geese to trap the foxes so they had no moves or for the foxes to capture all the geese. By adjusting the number of geese after each game, it was very competitive. 

 

Mason and I played with a set of Tinker Toys for 2 or 3 winters. We made everything in the book and invented a lot more. I’m so glad to see them on the market again. They are great to develop creativity, eye-hand coordination, and a knowledge of mechanical principles.

Fox and Geese - William Kurelek

(We kids played an outdoor game called Fox and Geese. We outlined a large circle in the snow and bisected it with two lines through the center at right angles to each other. One person was “It.” He chased the others until he caught one who then became “It.” Running was restricted to the line on the outside of the circle and the lines bisecting it. Of course, the game usually ended in a snowball battle.) 

Those evenings we spent together 

on the front porch 

or in the living room 

were precious times.

I miss them.

Porch Swing - Michael L. Kimble

The Waltons
An American television series 

created by Earl Hamner, Jr., 

based on his book Spencer's Mountain, 

and a 1963 film of the same name. 

The show is centered on a family in 

a rural Virginia community during the 

Great Depression and World War II.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Waltons

 

The Waltons

The Homecoming:
A Christmas Story
(1971 TV Special)
Full Movie

 The Waltons on the Hallmark Channel

http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/thewaltons 

 The Waltons say goodnight 

The family is one of 

nature’s masterpieces.
George Santayana
The Life of Reason

On the Veranda - John Singer Sargent

What a Wonderful World
Armstrong's recording was inducted into the 

Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
The song wasn't promoted in the United States 

because the record head did not like it. It was a 

major success in the United Kingdom, reaching 

number one on the UK Singles Chart. In the US, 

the song hit #116 on the 

Billboard Bubbling Under Chart.
Louis Armstrong - 1967

The happiest moments of my life
have been the few which I have passed
at home in the bosom of my family.
Thomas Jefferson
 

The happiness of the domestic fireside
is the first boon of Heaven;
and it is well it is so, since it is that
which is the lot of the mass of mankind.
Thomas Jefferson
 

The beauty of the house is order;
The blessing of the house is contentment;
The glory of the house is hospitality;
The crown of the house is godliness.
Anonymous 

At the end of the day,
a loving family should find
everything forgivable.
Mark V. Olsen and Will Sheffer
Big Love, Easter 

 
And thank you for a house
full of people I love.
Amen.
Terri Guillemets

Front Porch - Benjamin Leo Britton