Once upon a time, some children lived on a small farm. It was hid from the rest of the world by a large gopher mound, which is the foothills of a larger mountain, not far from Hillsboro, Oregon. One of the children was Laura, and the baby, 18 months younger, was a boy named Claud.

The girl was a tow headed little runt, while the boy was a rolly polly. Somehow, they managed to live and grow to maturity. How? will always remain a mystery.

Although they were poor in one point of view, they had fortunes far beyond enumeration. Yet didn't realize it until advanced age gave them time to look back over the road from the cradle to the grave.

Although the road was rough and swampy in places, they got by and really had a wonderful childhood, had they realized it soon enough to avoid some of the pit falls.

They had so much more than the city children. All of which they could have enjoyed to the fullest, had they only taken advantage of it.

There was the baeautiful trees, flowers, hills, creeks, fresh air, birds of all kinds, wild fruits, nuts, scernery, and all the beautiful thing God had so bountifully provided beside a comfortable home with a big orchard of many kinds of fruit. All the choicest could be had, just for the taking. Also, there was vegetables of so many kinds, fresh and crisp, right from the good mother earth. Bursting with vitamins, which now comes in a bottle, because it is lost from the meager supply of fruit and vegetables one could afford to purchase at the store in the city.

They could run through lush green grass that reached far above their little heads, dabble their toes in soft muddy spots, after a nice gentle rain. Make clay balls and dishes from a bank of potters clay, on the farm. All they wanted, just for the taking. They could wade, play or swim in the nice clear creek, or look for pretty rocks, or set on the mossy bank with the soft sunlight filtering down on them, and catch beautiful speckled trout, and listen to the lovely music of the water as it rippled over rocks and debris, and hear the happy song of the little birds as they flit in and out through the trees. They could watch big flocks of wild birds, such as ducks, crows and geese in the air. They could chase squirrals, lizards and frogs, not forgetting to make a wish before dashing across the road in the dust.

There was rail, picket and later, board fences they could climb and walk along the top, to see who could go the farthest and not fall off. There was little bushes to bend down and let fly back, big trees to climb to the very top, barns, house and other roofs to climb. Some they could even jump off from until dad or ma happened to pass by.

There was large and small trees and logs on the ground to climb onto and walk. Stumps any size to suit ones fancy, hollow logs to pound on, being fortunate in not having a bear or skunk come bounding out of it at them.

There was horses, cows, sheep, pigs, geese, chickens, cats and dogs. Caring for them was looked upon as work to be avoided. What the city children would give to have any one of then for a pet in this day and age.

They could play ball, fly kites, make and shoot arrows, and elder guns, make whistles of hazel and willow, walk stilts short or tall, have a swing or teeter on a board laid across a log. Run over the foot bridges, across the creek. They could even make the horses put on a burst of speed, when riding them down to the creek for a drink, or taking them to or from the pasture.

Somehow dad could always tell they had been in high gear and they would get a good lecture and a promise for something else next time it happened, there was a wood bridge below grandpas place. When the horses crossed the bridge, dad could hear it, as their home was up on a hill.

There was grandfathers cider mill, in a little clump of timber. They could help put apples into the mill, watch them chopped to shreds, as the mill heads bit into the apples, as grandpa turned the handle on the rollers. They could ride on the rail used to press the juices from the pulp. They could stand by the big buckets and watch the nice cider foam and bubble, as it ran into the container. They could help cart the apple pulp to the swill barrel, for the pig feed. They could drink all the cider they could hold and eat the delicious pork. Most of all, Laura enjoyed the head cheese mother used to make. A good big sample of it could yet add years to her life.

There was the wonderful sweet apple preserves, pear preserves, pear butter, prune butter, watermelon and quince preserves mother used to make. And the memory of the Glori Mundy apple that slipped from Laura's hand, landing on mothers head with a loud thump.

There was the time she found some queer looking stuff in the edge of the pond, where the stock drink water. Carrying it on a stick, to ask mother what it was, mother exclaimed, "throw that away!" She drew back the stick, gave it a little heave, it landed around mothers neck. After a lot of commotion, it turned out they were frog eggs.

There was licorice growing on the trees, to be had just for the gathering and drying. There was buds from the Alder tree, they could chew and make believe it was tobacco. There was wild peppermint, they could dry and make cigarettes for make believe. There was patches of Stinging Nettle, not to be fooled with. There was Wild Lilies (Skunk Cabbage), Lady Slipper (Orchid), Flag (Wild Iris), Lamb Tongue, Violets, all to be had and enjoyed. Also Trillium or Easter Lilies. There was beautiful long moss from trees to make false whiskers.

Sometimes father would find a bee tree, full of honey to be had for the taking. There was lots of milk, butter and cottage cheese. Lots of clabber milk, mice pan of fresh bread right from the oven. Beautiful Maiden Hair Fern and Sword Fern. All of which the city children can't play in, or gather. But must look at them in parks or along road sides.

They could gather Rose Buds and Periwinkles and make long strings of beads. Have a collection of blown eggs, and butterflies. Make chains of clover blossoms. Find gorgeous toad stools, carve hearts and names in the big Alder trees, in the swamp.

On the bank of a little creek was a spot that sounded hoollow. They loved to jump on it, just to hear the sound it made.

They had bull hide shoes, for to keep their little feet dry. They had stickings made special for them each. Their mother took the wool from their own sheep, washed, carded, spun, dyed and knitted it into socks, stockings, mittens and gloves for the whole family. Laura has the bedspread, that her grandmother Davis made from some of the wool, while they were small children. It is now a cherished possession. Now that it's impossible, it would be so nice to have those nice warm mittens and stockings that mother made. Where they used to seem just aan instrument of torture. Even that long underware that caused one to dream and long for flimsy, ruffly, lacy perifinilia. Such things were just for the elite.

What a thrill to follow after grandfather as he hauled in a shed of block wood, to be cut into chumks in the big wood shed. And made a big nick along the side of the shed. Or just walk along watching, as he hobbled along with big pails heaping full of milk.. Or just look into the furit cellar bulging with all kinds and colors of apples.

On the other side of the hill was a milk cellar, All lined with white cloth. There was a table, and shelves full of milk in different stages. What a thrill to watch grandmother roll up the thick cream and hear it go plop into the big stone jar, where it was kept till ready to churn. Then watch the hired girl, churn endlessly and at last turn out graeat chunks of yellow butter. Work and rinse out all milk. Then add salt, and form it into rolls and either put into special cloths, or butter paper. And then sold to the store.

How nice to go to the school for a Basket Social or Spelling Bee, or play of some kind, to hear the grownups make big talk. And they fairly blurst with pride to go to a Christmas play, with a big tree decorated, and loaded with presents. If they got a ball, bugtle, or rocking horse, or even a little bag of candy, they were pleased beyond words.

Now children must have oceans of big expensive gifts or feel so neglected. There was burned pitch gum they could get.

What a joy it was to wait at the door of the smoke house, where grandfather kept hams, and big sides of bacon. That heavenly aroma of hardwood smoke. It filled one with a sense of well being, that will never be forgotten. And when grandfather would take his pocket knife and shave off some of the lean smoked meat. How it was enjoyed. Now all pork must be cooked to a frazzel or one is liable to come down with some terrible sickness.

There also was the mince meat. How wonderful it was to smell the spicy goodness coming from the kitchen. And get a whiff of smoke from the firewood, as the firebox was being filled. And hear the friendly tinkle of stove lids, as mother shifted kettles full of good things to eat. Now these things all come from a tin can. While they are tasty, are not like the things fresh from the good earth.

There wes big delicious turips and Jerusalem artichoke to chew on. Big red tomatoes, right off the vine. And ground cherries to husk, and make into preserves and popping one into the mouth on the sly, gave double pleasure.

There was the big dogwood tree at the top of the hill. Where they could climb up and see all over the country for miles around and wait patiently while a team of horses came plodding up the hill during the summer, in a cloud of dust. It was quite a game to guess who it was. Whether it was a neighbor or some traveleer.

They even had the pleasure of seeing an ox team plodding along up the road. And watch thrashing crews move in and set up the old steam engine ready to go to work on the big stacks of grain, after the bundles had been hauled in from the field. And see the big water wagon take out for the creek to replenish it's supply.

Somewhere in the past, there was a horse poweered separator, but it's workings are a hazy memory.

There was also the times when each farmer must feed the men that worked on the mysterious machine, that chewed up the long blades of grain. As the bundles were fed into it from one side, it spit out the straw into a big pile and separated the grain that went into big sacks. They loved to watch the men sew the tops of the filled sack, and boost them out of the way. While another sack was being put on and filled with the beautiful grain. How they loved to set on the edge of the grain bin in the granary, and dig their hands and feet into the grain, letting it run through their fingers.

They enjoyed mealtime for the thrashing crew. As all the best of food possible was seerved to the men. And the children could have a feast after the men were gone. They loved to hear the whistle as the job was finished, so the next farmer would know they were finished and coming to their place next. And to get ready to set out the food, and clear ship for action. The children would watch the machine as long as it could be seen from any place in the vacinity.

There was the time when the cows were standing quietly in the road, chewing their acud. Laura decided to ride one of the young heifers. So they got a board, and leaned it against the cow and climbed aboard. Just then, Claud hit the cow, yelled, "sic 'em", and the dog rushed at her. She jumped from a high bank, ran across the road and up a bank on the other side, Chin and horn collided with a sickening smack. Laura rolled over onto the ground. The cow kicked viciously, with both feet. Just missing by a slight margin. That was the last time at rough riding.

Another time, as Laura and Claud was rounding up the sheep to drive home to the corral, from in front of grandfathers place. All of a sudden, the daddy sheep, took a flying leap at Laura. She hit him with all her might. He just backed up and let her have it again, and was all set for a repeat. By that time grandfather whammed the sheep across the nose with his walking cane. The kids ran home, through the grain field. The ram came on home. An older brother, Guy, opened the gate. Mr. Billy took after him. Guy scooted over the picket fence, Billy right after him. Guy jumped onto a big stump, still Billy pursued him. Guy ran and got back into the yard, Billy still coming. Also, mother arrived on the scene, with a rooe. The kids and mother joined forces and tied him up.

When dad came home and heard of it, he was very sarcastic about the whole thing. The very idea of tying the sheep up. So he went strutting out to where Billy was tied up at the woodshed. He stuck out his hand and said, "what is the matter, Jake?" Well, the billy let dad have it with both barrels. Caught him on the thumb and nearly broke it. Dad just whipped out his old pocket knife and slit Billy's throat from ear to ear. They had mutton for some time to come.

Another time, when the 2 children were quite small, they were living in a smaller house, between 2 creeks. They later spent time playing and fishing there. On this occacsion, they were logging. They had a hatchet, chopping block, and little switches for logs. Laura was the man that cut them up, Claud was the off bearer. He decided to move a log, just as Laura decided it should be shorter. The result was, a poor little finger was almost severed from his little hand. The finger was just clinging by a piece of skin on the under side. Well, Laura came leading him around the house saying, "poor bruvver". All of which didn't help the finger. In those days, people didn't run to the doctor every time they had a squealing worm. So mother held the finger in place, while dad made 2 splints. He tied it up and trusted to luck for it to grow back on. Everything was going fine, till Claud fell down and knocked the splints sideways. And before it was noticed, the finger was so badly swollen, it couldn't be set straight again. So to this day, he has a finger that hangs at a rankish angle. Still, it's much better than no finger at all.

The kids also had sling shoots and became quite experts at the use of them. One day Laura was sitting on the porch. Guy let fly with a nail, shot from an elder gun. The neil stuck into her forehead. Mother had to pull it out. On another occasion, Guy, and an older brother, Bert, was sawing a big log for wood. Laura was catching sawdust as it came from the saw. All at once, she raised up. There was a yelp and ripping of hair. She had been cut in the top of the head with the cross cut saw. Needless to say, she lost interest in stuffing for her doll.

Sometime later, they were living in the new house built in 1898. Claud and Laura were bringing in the cows. There was a clump of brush. Part of the cows went on one side of it, Laura chasing from one side and Claud the other. Just as they came out of the clearing, Claud let fly with a clod of dirt, catching Laura square between the eyes. Then it was Clauds turn to lead in the victim. Both eyes were full of rocks and dirt. Tears failed to wash them out. So mother dug them out, boxing her ears occasionally because she would jump around and squint her eyes shut real tight. So to this day her trademark; half blind in one eye.

Mother used to make her sour dough biscuits using soda. At times lump wouldn't dissolve completely, leaving a yellow spot in the bread with a terrible taste. One of those lumps got into a biscuit Claud was eatting. He refused to eat all of it. His older brother, Bert, decided to put the pressure on and force Claud to eat it. All seemed to be going fine. All at once Claud leaped from the table, and raced out of the door. Bert was right behind him. Claud leaped over the picket fence like a scared rabbit. So, the rest of the family finished dinner and the hounds got the rest of the biscuits that claud didn't spit out of his mouth as he sprinted for the door. He had just been poking it into his mouth, and keeping it there, till he couldn't stuff in any more.

Laura and Claud spent many an hour playing shinny, by batting a can with a stick. One player trying to keep the other from knocking the can into the hole. He, keeping his stick in the hole, quickly hits the can and puts the stick into the hole before the can could be knocked into the hole by the other player.

As I am writing this, the Lawrence Welk Show is singing, "Tie Me To Your Apron Strings Again". Yes, how wonderful it would be could we once again hang onto mothers apron strings.

How wonderful it was just to watch mothers hands fly as she was peeling a pan of apples to dry. The apples would fairly spin in her fingers and the peeling came off in one long string. And the little silver ring she wore, making a pleasant clicking sound, as it clicked against the side of the pan holding the apples.

When grandmother passed on, the family fell heir to a copper kettle. When mother wanted to pick prunes, or some small fruit, she would say, "Laurie, won't you run up to the house and get mothers little copper kettle?" How nice it would be to see that little kettle again. But it disappeared somewhere along the line.

It's strange how one will look back at the simple things and idolize them. One such was a rock father brought home. It looked like a very dark, brown egg. Mother used to pound meat at times and it took on that rich polished look. When mother passed away, someone else got it. But Laura never forgot how nice it was. There was also a glass dish in the shape of a hen sitting on a nest. Mother gave it away. Laura, seeing a broken one similar in a 2nd hand store, bought it, patched it up and still has it sitting in her home.

There is an old iron kettle, that held many a mess of beans, potatoes or meat, to fill a hungry tummy. A castor for holding salt, pepper, mustard, vinegar and such. Laura has it. Laura also has a large horn that the maternal grandfather drove across the plains. It was the headgear of one of the oxen. It's name was Darb. Another oxen butted him off from a haystack and broke his neck. The horn was then fixed, so by blowing into it, one could hear it for miles. It was used to call in the hounds when hunting for deer, or chasing coons. There was ready sale for the furs at the country store, owned by Uncle Gus. Dad and the older boys caught lots of coon, mink, skunk, weasel, and one red fox. It was always the job of Laura and Claud to hold the animal while the older boys took off the pelt. They then stretched the pelt over a shaped board or frame for them to dry on. The boys had some young hounds they wished to trail in the snow. So Bert said he would give Laura 10 cents if she would let him take her kitten to the far corner of the field and make track for the dogs to follow. It was agreed, but the kitten didn't know what the game was. The dogs caught and killed it. Laura was broken hearted, but it didn't help the kitten much.

Another time, when Claud was quite small, he caught a trout. He wanted mother to cook it for him, She was busy and said for him to go clean it. So he cut off it's head, pulled the insides out, and cut a big notch in the back. Then he brought it to mother, proud as punch. By the time mother cut the notch in the proper place, there wasn't much fish left to eat.

At sheep sheering time, it was always a big treat to watch the wool fall away in a big sheet, and the sheep step out white and clean. What a time the little lambs had trying to locate mother when it was lunch time. Once in a while, the sheep would get tired and slump down into a heap. Before they knew it, a chunk would get cut out of their hide. Some resembled hamburger when they were finished. Father dabbed the spots with axle grease and in a few days they were whole as ever. Each baby had located it's mother and everyone was happy again.

One morning father noticed some sheep didn't look right. So he sent Claud to see what the trouble was. He came back and reported that there was a couple of sheep with their heads all bloody. They rushed over, across the road where the sheep were fenced in, and found one nice ewe had her ear torn off. The other one had both ears missing, Right then dad swore vengence on any dog caught on his place without the owner. Needless to say, there was several dogs less before long.

How often we hear the expression, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth?" One day, a Mr. Simpson, living near Hillsboro, gave Bert and Guy a horse. The horse was considered to be a bad one, had to be beaten with a single tree, before it could be worked. So it became known as an outlaw. The boys, happy at such a gift, brought it home and put it into a stall in grandfathers old barn. One day they decided to put the saddle on the horse, as it stood in the stall. Laura and Claud were sitting in the hay loft where they could see the whole show. The horse stood perfectly quiet until Bert tightened up on the saddle cinch. Then all of a sudden, all heck broke loose. The horse went straight in the air, kicking, pawing and bawling kike a bay steer. Hay, boards, saddle and kids flying in all directions at the same time. Guy must have been scared stiff, because he just froze in his tracks, against the wall directly back of the horse. It's hind feet just missing him at every jump. Father reached in and grabbed Guy and pulled him to safety, just in time to prevent him from being killed.

At the samt time, Bert leaped over the manger and the horse landed in the manger on it's head. By that time the saddle had come off and was dragged to safety. Dad yelled, "get that horse out of here, before it kills someone!" So after it calmed down, the boys took it into the woods and shot it. Bert had horse hide shoe strings in his hi-top shoes. As long as the old barn stood, one could see the print of the saddle horn on the pole ceiling. One thing for certain, that horse wasn't just fooling around.

There was a well, just a few feet from the kitchen door. It had a habit of going dry every year. Water had to be hauled from down on the creek, or from grandfathers spring. The old place stood vacaant for some time. So the folks moved a small stove by the spring, where they could heat water for the family wash and have a picnic dinner at the same time. This could have been a wonderful thing. Instead, it was looked on as working under difficulty. Just another opportunity for pleasure misplaced.

There was always something going on to provide variety. One day, when there was some water in the well, a little kitten fell into it. Guy decided he would go down in the bucket, get the cat, and mother and the 2 small children pull them out of the well.

Everything was fine going down. But when they started pulling him up, he got almost to the top. The well curb commenced to tip. To this day, I don't see how they got him out. But, by superhuman effort, they landed him safely. Only to be killed, some years later, in a car/train accident in California. Leaving a wife and 3 sons: Lyle, Lawrence and Roy.

Bert had been away from home, working at a mill, to get lumber to build our new house. My sister Dora, between Bert and Guy, was working for grandmother Messinger. One day, after visiting the family for a while, started for granfmas. So Guy, Laura and Claud started to walk part way with her. Yhey were just coming to the edge of the woods. All at once, a bull started bellowing just around a bend in the road. All four flew back down the road and over the fence. Laura hid under a log. Claud was on top of it. Guy was on top of the fence. Laura, for one, was scared silly. She could just feel the horns of that old bull, as he tried frantically to reach her. Then Dora collapsed on the edge of the road and commenced to scream and laugh until the woods echoed. We commenced to peer around to find out what ailed her, when Bert came around the bend. He had heard us coming and that was his idea of a joke.

Over in the woods, back of the orchard on grandpa's place, was the grave of a woman, Mrs. Bozark. There was a rail fence around it. Laura always felt sorrow for the poor lady, there all alone, and at the same time, just a bit sceary of the dead. The children used to toss flowers onto the grave. On one decoration day, they took a bunch of flowers for Mrs. Bozark. Only this time, Laura was going to get in beside the grave and really fix it up nice for the special day. So she climbed over the fence. From years of accumulation, fir needles and moss were thick on the ground. The ground was soft and squashy from gophers and such working in it. Laura thought the grave was caving in with her. She grabbed onto the rails. They broke and commenced to fall in toward her. By this time she was scared silly. She scratched and clawed like mad and scrambled out like a scared cat. That was the last time Mrs. Bozark received flowers. Now the grave is being farmed over the top of.

One day Laura found Jack, the little cocker spaniel, setting by the woodshed with what she thought was egg white on his mouth. Thinking she might be saving him from death as a egg sucker, she cleaned his mouth off and never mentioned it to anyone. Pretty soon mother came by and said, "what is wrong with Jack? Quick, get me a raw egg". She poked it down his throat, and ran for a pan of milk telling Laura, "quick, open his mouth, he has been poisoned". So by her quick action, the dog was saved in spite of Laura's dumbness. He was later given to a young man that wanted a good dog for bird hunting.

When dad was building the new house, they had a shed fixed to eat lunch under. Claud was always going around on all fours, playing like he was a bear. This day he smelled food. He ambled over to the table, reared up and put his paws on the table that was kind of wobbly. Over came table, dishes, food and all, right on top of him. There was very little lunch and less dishes to wash that night. From that day on he changed into a horse. He had 2 tin cans that he held on his hands for front feet. He had the most fun clomping around over the place, pawing up the dust and stomping at flies. Here was a carefree boy, perfectly content with two old tin cans as toys. Is that possible today?

Ever hear the expression, "no use having nice things as long as there is small children around the place?" Mother had managed somehow to get a nice set of dishes. Laura was going to set the stack of plates into the cupboard. The door stuck a little. She balanced the plates on one knee. The door flew open and over went the stack of plates smashing at least half of them. Dad yelled, "save the pieces". Mother looked the situation over and said, "Laurie Ethel! I got a notion to box your confounded ears".

Mother seldom hit the children, but when she did, it was with the heel of her hand. You thought you had been kicked by a Missouri Mule.

Father never whipped the children. If they displeased him, he would clamp his big hand down over the top of your head and shake one until their teeth rattled, and your hair was all rumpled up. Or else, he would give you a sideways boost in the rear and make a youngster feel like a postage stamp well licked. That was a sure way to deflate ones ego.

There was the purebred Hamilton horse father bought, and how he could strut his stuff. His name was Caution. When he was hitched to the sulky, one oculd almost burst with pride when driving into town. Those were prosperous days in comparison to what it was when the older children were small. The parents used to tell the younger children how they had to live most of the miseerable winter on frozen potato soup and wild meat. It isn't known whether they had milk for the soup, or if it was just water. The children were sick from so much meat.

One day, the house caught fire. Later in telling it, father swore that mother piled on more wood and let it burn. Then, as they were traveling in a wagon, before they realized it, the heat was too much, baby Belle had a sun stroke. She recovered and lived to marry a young man at Laurel and raised 1 daughter. Her daughter died leaving a tiny baby boy. He grew up and now Belle is watching her great grandchildren produce.

The older sister, Nora, was the elite of the family. How the little ones loved to go to her house and enjoy the wonderful food she set out. Such as heavenly baking powder biscuits, luscious fried potatoes, fried chicken, and cake or pie. How they were enjoyed. There was also the beautiful lace window curtains, floors with real rugs on them, snowy towels to dry our hands and face on. She even had an accordian. It made such nice music. Later she lived in the city and had a high top organ and graphaphone with a big shiny brass horn that rested on a tripod. It played cylinder records. Laura was privileged to play the organ. Nora made a recording of her music.

What cuases children to say and do some of the rude things they are guilty of? One never-to-be-forgotten incident, was the first time Laura saw her little niece, Julia Ethel. Well, it wasn't intended to be rude, she wanted to say something. She had a kitten named Julia. So as mother and grandma Davis were leaving Belles house, Laura said, "bring your cat and come over sometime".

How she loved to visit at Belles farm. They had some of the finest Perchon horses, and wonderful big hogs and cows. She also had real cream to eat on strawberries and oven fresh light bread. Belle still lives on a nice farm in Washington, although she can't do much rambling through the woods, picking wild flowers like they once did.

What a happy time they used to have on Children Day. People would come for miles around to the little Baptist Church. There was a little fir grove with a stage, benches and long tables. They would have a program, eat, visit and visit the graves of the departed friends and relatives. On one occasion, it came Laura's turn to sing "Poor Babes In The Woods". Mother, and sister Dora, had dolled hwe all up in a white dress, and hair in long curls. They were so proud. When she started to sing, she only got a few words out and started to cry. She was taken from the stage in a big fizzle.

One Fourth-of-July, all of the neighbors gathered in a field on a hillside to display fireworks. It was wonderful, except the big noise. That made Laura nervous and hurt her ears.

When Guy was an infant, he met his waterloo. Some of the older kids let his buggy roll into the creek, baby and all. Later he fell on a bit and just missed the juggler vein.

Dora split her big toe with an axe. She wrapped string around it and hobbled home.

There used to be a little school house, about half a mile from her home. When Laura and Claud started school, they built a new and larger school. One day the carpenter was on his way to the job, when it started to rain. He stopped for a little spell under the shelter of a huge fir tree, one of three in a line along the road. Laura, Claud and dad were sitting on the porch watching the rain. Mr. Crawford had just left a few minutes before, when there came a big roll of thunder and flash of lightening. Bark flew from the tree, lightening had hit and killed all three trees. It cut a strip of bark, about 1" wide, from the top to the bottom of each tree. To this day, Laura is afraid of a thunder storm, while lots of people like to watch it.

There came a time when Laura and Claud were considered large enough to pick hops with mother and dad. That was fine for a while. Then their hands would sting and the hot sun made them lazy. So, they would ease up on the job and play a little. Now, the wisdom of dads approach was very much in doubt. He would stick his head over the hop vines and say in no uncertain tones, "if you don't get to work, i'll double up a hop vine and take the hide off of your backs!" Is it possible that the vision of a back is inductive to hard labor?

Instead of enjoying the job, it was looked upon as a form of slavery. Later people would come from the city for an outing, just to pick hops and prunes. To us it was a horrible job. Now it would be so wonderful, just to pick prunes or hops once again.

Father, the boys and a friend or two, used to go to Gales Creek hunting. So Laura and mother was left to run the farm. One time they had been gone a day or so, when a Gypsy came wanting to buy some hay. So thinking that a good way to get a little pin money, they loaded his wagon and brushed out the tracks. He had been gone only a few minutes, when dad came home. He was wondering where the man got the hay, said he had almost a ton of hay. Here we had sold almost a ton of hay for $1.00. Dad never did find out about it.

If that stunt had been pulled in this day and age, dad might have found our bodies in the hay loft, on his return.

Grandmother Davis used to have a horse called Joe. How wonderful it was when she would come for a visit with old Joe hitched to a buggy. On one of her visits, she brought material to make Laura two thin dresses. One was pink, the other light blue. It was the most wonderful thing that ever happened.

When the dresses were finished, dad got Laura a lacy white parasol and nice shoes. She felt like a sure enough millionaire.

One day grandma was visiting her son, Frank and family. When she was ready to leave, she went out to hitch Joe to the buggy. Leo, her grandson, had the seat all torn off her buggy. He was the same boy that later poured coal oil on the cat and set fire to it. The cat ran under the barn and burned the barn to the ground.

When Bert married, and lived on the old home place, they had three daughters: Zedna, Viola and Veta Valentine. Besides his farming, he had a milk route. He would collect the milk cans from the farmers and take them to the condenser at Hillsboro. You could always tell it was him coming along the road. He would always be whistling a tune through his teeth. He would keep it up, and every so often, he would give a shrill whistle at his horses, then continue with his tune.

One of the boys they grew up with, got married. When their 1st child was born, they were so proud of their accomplishment. One day, just for the heck of it, Bert stopped in at their place, and gave the young Mrs. Mulloy a bottle of olives. Well, the joke never did sink in. Every time I see Johnny and olive Mulloy, his wife, they tell me about Bert giving them the present. If the opportunity comes again, they are going to be enlighted, as her name was olive. Bert was symbolically showing that he could produce a lot of little olives.

Later, Bert and family moved to Hillsboro, and was working in the condenser. He bought a Ford and was doing fine. He was coming home and saw a fellow having trouble with a Ford: said he couldn't get it atarted, as he had lost his key. So Bert said maybe his keys would fit. It worked perfect. Next morning the girls came in and said, "Daddy, our car is gone". So he had helped the man steal his own car.

After moving to Hillsboro, they had a baby boy, Lloyd Spencer. When the baby was about 9 months old, the family came down all at once, with the flu. Bert passed away, and the same night, Dora gave birth to a baby girl, Edna. So mother and Laura was the only members of the family that could attend his funeral in the little Baptist Church at Laural.

When Laura was about 10 years of age, the folks got a quaint little old organ. At each end, it was high. It had no back to it. Still, it could make nice music. Bert used to try playing the violin.

Mrs. Lilligard, living at Laurel, used to go to the homes teaching music at 25 cents a lesson. After one year, Laura could play a lot of music. Friends of Bert would come to the house with their violin. Laura would play the cords on the organ. How the family enjoyed that playing old time dance music. But dad seemed to think dancing or taking a drink was terrible. He didn't want his kids out carousing around.

Sam and Rose Ornduff, their cousins, had a big prune orchard, and drier. He used to have prune juice around that would knock your hat off, if you had too much. So if Bert or Guy happened round there and got too much, they would conveniently spend the night with some friend. If some of the neighbors spilled the beans, dad would kick the boys off of the place. After he had time to cool off, he would set around in the dumps for a while. Then he would say, "Magg, do you suppose you could get him to come home?" So mother and Laura would go and patch things up and get them home again until the next time. When the kids came home from school, they never knew if the family would be intact or scattered like a bunch of quail.

Laura always was a scary cat. The family was going to the coast. They were suppose to meet Uncle Jake and some other families. But somehow they didn't connect with them, so they went on alone. They had a horse they wasn't used to. At one place, the bridge was broken down. They had to cross a big creek. About the middle, one came up against a big boulder. The horse tried to lay down in the water. Laura had visions of being swept over a falls, a little ways below. By a lot of yelling and whipping the horses, they at last got to the other side. They had to go up a steep hill. Then all hands, and the ships cat, had to grab a wheel and heave-ho until at last they were up the hill. So Bert and Guy took their guns and went on ahead hoping they could see a deer or bear to shoot. They were going along, all at once a bear ran across the road and disappeared in the brush. Dad must have been sick. He just sat on the wagon, and let the horses go, not using the brake or anything. So in desperation, Laura drove the team until they caught up with the boys, expecting a big cougar or something to leap on them, or the horses, at every turn of the wheel. They stayed one night at the beach and headed for home. Once again, what should have been a beautiful outing, was ruined.

The cousins came to school telling the wonderful time they had at the beach. All we got was scared to death and found a young sea lion on the beach. Besides seeing some waves rolling, in fact Laura was so scared that her sons hair stands on end, to this day.

When they were small, they loved to have dad tell of the hunting with Uncle Dan, whoever that was, or tell indian or ghost stories. They took a magazine called Comfort. It had a continuous story about Oklahoma Peg. When they had to go out in the dark, they felt sure they would be scalped before they got in the house and closed the door. Dad seemed to enjoy the opportunity to yell, "look out, something will get you".

During the 1st world war, Laura, in spite of her Bronchial Asthma, took a job driving a team on a Fresno Scraper. First rattle out of the box, they gave her a great big horse she couldn't boost the heavy harness onto. So a stable boy helped. Arriving on the job, she was given instructions to go around in a circle, pick the dirt up at one place, and a man dumped it in another. We were warned not to let the scraper turn over or it would ruin the horse by cutting their heels. Well, the walking in the loose dort, driving horses, worry, sun and dust, got the best of her. So, one day on the job was enough. So she started washing dishes in a restaurant. They also ran a city milk route. One day they had no one to take the truck out. So Laura took it over with very little experience. She went up through the Vancouver Barracks. She did fine until all at once there was no road. The truck took out through the woods, just missed a street drain, went in and out among those trees. Never touched a one and wound up back on the road. I think every one in town got milk till it commenced to get foggy and dark. Then she was stimied. She went to a phone, called the dairy, told them where the truck was. A boy came and helped finish. Then they went home. Just another good opportunity shot.

When Ethel passed away, a short time later Claud and Laura wanted to go to the funeral and no way to go. Claud had no experience in driving anything but horses. They went to one of those do-it-yourself places and rented a Chevy Sedan. Laura showed him how to manipulate the controls, and they were off. And believe it or not, they got there in time for the funeral and back home again, without an accident. Which goes to prove, the fools wasn't all dead yet.

Well, times, people, and things have changed since those good old days. Still life must go on. Claud is now a great grandfather and living in Californis, with his wife Mary. One daughter, by a former marriage, lives near him. Laura, now a widow, living in Maplewood, Oregon, is just across the street from her son, George. He has 7 daughters. Their only son died when about 4 1/2 years of age from a tonsil operation. So from here on, the younger generation can take over. But before they do, I must say that sister Dora passed away March 6, 1957, leaving a family of 8 children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Also, Nora who is passed 82 years of age, is living in Kirkland, Washington. She owns a nice home, which she is having remodeled. She was remarried recently to a wonderful man--no children. Some of Dora's children live in California: Ida, Laura, Edna and Herbert. The rest are in Oregon: Johnny, Walter, Inace and Alma. Claud came from California for a visit, two or three years ago. Laura and husband, went with Claud to Bellevue, to see their sister Nora. Claud made the trip in one day and part of the night. Then we went to look over the old home place. It was changed so. There has been a saw mill down on the creek. Several houses are there and the place is a big mill pond. The apple tree, they were so proud of, is different from anything. The fruit had a waxy skin, one side yellow, the other bright red. Guess it was a seedling of some sort. It is dead, just the skeleton is still standing.

There was lots of cedar on the property. The folks used to spend days making stakes, posts, shingles, rails and pickets to sell as well as for thier own use. All were made by hand with a maul and froe, and drawer knife and a bench called a horse, to hold the shingles as it was being smoothed and shaped. Oh to be a kid again! would be so nice.

After losing our home in Rose City, due to a crooked deal, we bought 1 acre of ground in 1933. There was a two room house, two garages, two chicken houses. We enlarged the place to five rooms, a bath and a partly finished attic. We later sold the lower half to George, and he commenced carving out a home a little at a time. They now have seven rooms under construction, besides a bath, and a full cement basement.

I always wanted a little girl to fuss over. So when Joan, the first of the granddaughters arrived, we were tickled pink. Somewhere along the line, somebody goofed. Next came Paul, we didn't have him long. Then came Laura, Janet and Helen. Paul died when she was four months old. Next came Georgia, Lucia and Leola.

In the meantime, Jack and Mary had married Bert and Betty. They presented us with Stevie and Peggy for Jack, and Johnny and Jimmy for Mary. Bert and Jack both passed away. Each leaving a young widow with two children. Both have remarried.

Ida is still a single girl with a office job and living in Portland. Joan is in Portland, trying to work and carve out a career for herself. Laura is in high school, Janet will be in high school next year. All the rest are in grade school. George and Dora, his wife, are in the landscaping business. They seem to be doing fine. They have more work than they can handle.

In a few short years, most of our little family will be out of the home nest, and on their own. All I hope is that I don't have to babysit for my great grandchildren. Anyhow, not at long intervals, as i'm past 66 years of age. These lively youngsters just about get us all down at times.

Yes, the year 1936 was truly a great day for the Irish, as the saying goes. For in that year, my first grandchild was born. How happy I was as we, that is my husband John, our two daughters, and myself, went to the hospital to have a peek at this precious gift from heaven.

How anxiously we waited until a white clad nurse went from crib to crib. At last she leaned over and picked up a tiny bundle, holding it up for us to admire through the glass door.

I am ashamed to admit, that my first thoughts wasn't exactly called complementry. I thought, "oh my gosh, will she always look like that? Will I be proud to have her call me grandma?" She was so tiny, 6 pounds, some ounces, and was red as an old piece of beef stake. Her hair was a black, straggly mop, and straight as a string. She was sure different than the picture baby I had been dreaming of all these months of waiting.

As we cut and sewed tiny garments by hand, with our limited ability, we were endeavoring to turn out every little garment to be a master piece. We wanted the best for our expected bundle of joy. But thanks be to our creator, time will heal all. As days passed, our little darling came more and more to look like a real baby. We all loved her very much.

In those days, it was hard to tell just who was going to produce this dream baby. The whole family seemed to think that this child wouldn't be born without them. But at the climax, I guess the doctor knew who was responsible.

My husband, John, was always the one to play schoffer. As he was the only one who could drive a car at that time. It was up to him to help make a bassinet for the baby. We had a big basket converted into a bed. It was lined and covered with baby blue, silky, rayon material. Over the outside was a ruffle. It was beautiful when finished.

John made a foundation for it to stand in, so it could swing gently. When baby got to the stage where we could commence to spoil her, and why not? She is the only baby in the family, let her have what she wants. My gosh, she is only little once.

We had a little black dog, his name was Spooks. Sometimes, if we felt real friendly, we would call him Spooksie.

When we first brought the baby home from the hospital, the first noise she made sounded like a squeak. The little dog ran around the crib like mad. He thought it was mice.

As time passed, she and the dog got to be real pals. Spooksie would come up to me, if I was holding the baby, and rub up against me, at the same time making a happy growling sound.

I would put the baby on his back. How Donnabelle Joan would squeal and laugh. It was so much fun. Our wonder baby was getting to big for her bassinet. So Axel John to the rescue again. He made a real little crib of lath, cut and planed smooth as glass. When the crib was completed, I gave it a couple of coats of stain. It was truly wonderful. Little did we know the ups and downs that it would play a part in her life later.

By now, she was truly spoiled. Ida and Mary would stand and wait for her to wake up, so they could pick her up. So complications were sure to set in. At times it becomes my job to take care of the baby alone. By this time, she was a regular wiggle worm at night, I couldn't keep her covered. At night I would often find her on top of the covers half frozen. I tried everything I could think of to keep her covered, but she always managed to wiggle out. And once or twice almost got herself choked in the process.

Donnabelle and her mother went to Washugal, to be closer to her daddy, who was at that time in the U.S. Army. He was stationed at Vancouver Barracks. I didn't see the baby for some time and when they came back home the mother wasn't feeling well. The father got out of the service and bought a small boat house. Which they managed to live in for a while. It was not so comfortable a place to keep the baby, so I kept her until they finally made other plans and the little family got together again.

By that time, the baby had more ideas of her own. If we would try to leave her setting on a chair, she would yell like a comanche indian. If we tried to feed her something that just wasn't to her liking, she would give a big poof! And if we wasn't on the lookout, we would get a gob of second hand food, square in our own mug.

Of course that would cause quate a commotion and our young lady got to looking forward to mealtime, as she seemed to know there would be a good show put on before the ordeal was finished.

It sure was a great day when we didn't have to clean Pablum or carrots out of our hair. Not to mention how much cleaning had to be done on the baby and surrounding 10' space. But still we loved her more than anything.

Perhaps it was her watching the spoon for Cod Liver Oil, that caused it, but we commenced to notice she was just a little bit cross-eyed. We kept hoping that as she got older, she would get better. For several generations there has been one in our family with a weak eye. At last she was operated on and in a short time, she was gegging for candy or cookies.

December 25, 1937: Donnabelle Joan is walking all over the house. She is still 26" tall. This is the second Christmas for her and a white one. It snowed about 2", commencing about 3 P.M. December 24th., and during the night.

Baby got a cute doll bed from John. We made bedding. She got a 10" rubber doll, pink knitted suit, white elephant, and material for two dresses.

Christmas Day, she was dressed in a new blue dress, with a pink sash and ribbon in her hair. She was so sweet.

Donnabelle, John, George, Dora, Ida, Mary, Alfred and Lucia Estberg, and Raymond Schrader, were together for Christmas evening. I, Laura, being sick with a cold, enjoyed a miserable time, thanks.

Christmas Eve, after Mary and baby went to bed, I hung one of Donnabelles stockings on the tree. Next morning it was full of nuts, candy cane and 37 cents cash. I hung the stocking high on the tree. By morning, it was so heavy that it was almost on the floor. Each time Santa put in something, the stocking had to be moved to a stronger limb.

Baby had added another word to her vocabulary. Every time we give her something, she says "thankie" (thank you).

One time Ida had been giving her candy until we decided that was enough. She had different ideas and proceeded to let us know about it. Then Ida got an idea how to handle the situation. She went to the kitchen, and came back with little pieces of graham crackers. So Donnabelle ate crackers and liked it, while we ate the peanut candy. Nothing like using a little strategy in a pinch.

Not long ago I saw a couple of toys that Ida got for Donnabelle. One was Ozzie the Elephant, and the other was Donald the Duck. I will admit, they didn't look quite so gay after all these years of being beaten down by six game hunters. But they still gave me a warm feeling inside when I remember how the poor little toys were handed from one to another, down my string of pearls. John used to say we wouldn't take a million dollars for any one of them or give 5 cents for another one.

I have had several years added to my age since this parade started and couldn't stand to raise any more, as much as we love them.

March 9, 1940: We had a party for Mary. There was fourteen persons present. We had piano, violin, guitar, and accordion music to dance by, and a big lunch. Everyone had a fine time. But the biggest event of all was Donnabelle. She was so tiny and sweet dressed in a blue dotted organdy dress, full skirt with white anklets, and shoes. She had us all spell bound, the way she trod the boards and swayed in rhythm with the music, with her mandolin swung from the shoulder in a real trooper fashion. Never missing a dance, but ready with a different movement to the rhythm of each different dance. While the others danced, she would beg to dance, usually with grandpa Estberg or stand by grandmother and strum on her mandolin. The minute the floor was empty, she would take up the floor with her dance. It was simply amazing. The party broke up at 12:30 midnight. She was pretty sleepy, but still going on with the dance at every opportunity. It beat anything I ever saw for a child so young (3 years & 7 months). Her favorite tume at that time was "Here Comes The Man With The Mandolin".

March 18, 1940: Donnabelle is 32" tall.

August 17, 1940: Donnabelle is 33 3/4" tall. She is standing on a chair cooking a piece of bacon.

When Donnabelle started to school, she went as Joan, it was easier for her to spell. I used to fix her lunch as mother had another baby by this time. Each day, going to school, she would come in at my kitchen door and out through the front door, yelling good bye as she went. Little Paul never did go to school, but all the rest went through the same procedure, from Laura on down.

As each of the children was small, every time some of the relation came, we would gather in all of the children and give them a history of each child as a new one was added. People would exclaim in a tone that said "horrors! How will they ever keep three or four kids fed, clothed, and school them?" They do find it pretty hard sledding to provide for five. Some of the relation really got to having fits before the production stopped. When seven and eight arrived, the relations gave up in despair.

People from all over sends them everything they don't want, or have use for. If any clothing won't fit mother or Joan, pack it away till soon some of the girls would grow into them.

Kind people have certainly helped them with oceans of things till so much good things are piled up, it's almost a second hand store.

It was about July 2nd or 3rd, when Joan was small. I was in the shed milking the goats, just off the garage. All at once there was an ear splitting roar. I jumped out of my skin. I yelled to John and George. I said, "what in heck was that?" I thought a neighbor, Mr. Brigham, had set off a blast celebrating. I yelled, "dang such people. There ought to be a law against setting off those things in town!" I could cheerfully have torn him limb from limb. Next day, the paper said a meteor had fell close to Portland. So I decided to not murder the neighbor for a while longer.

I later got revenge on him by selling him a cow for $100.00 that kicked his head off. He had to put hobbles on her in order to milk.

When Joan was little, she used to say, "Eskoose Peas, I dot a hookups".

We first sealed up the lower garage for sister Nora to live in. When she went back to Washington, George, Dora and Joan moved in. When Paul was born, we opened the big doors, put in a window and roof. Presto! Roon for two kids. Next in went Laura, Janet and Helen. Baby beds all over the place. Next, they built a bedroom on the north side of the house. They made a house around the garage. They added a small bedroom, bath, hall for upstairs, kitchen and large living room. They took out the garage and made a large bedroom and hall, built on back porch and started a basement and attic. They put some of the children in the attic to sleep, but they got scared of fire and moved all downstairs. In time, they completed the basement, all cemented. They put in a furnace to replace more primitive methods.

George put in hot water. The tank froze. He tore it out and put a sawdust heater in the basement. Next, he put in a septic tank, toilet and shower. The toilet plugged often with toys. They started rooms in the attic again, started a larger kitchen, dug a large hole then decided to buy a ranch in Gold Hill. They filled the hole with trash. They would go to the ranch over weekends. The first few trips were okay. Next, Lucia got a wood tick at the base of her skull. The doctor removed it, afraid os Spotted Fever. The next trip, July 4th, I weas just sick to think of then moving away. They had no buikdings. So on their next trip, Leola got a tick behind each ear. George was rambling through the woods, hoping to find gold in great chunks, as it is in the mining section of the ocuntry, or had once been. This trip, he almost stepped on a rattle smake. I can just see him in my mond, rushing into camp, yakking like a wild indian, bundled kids and equipment into the car and took out like Lucifer was right behind him. They lost all money payed in, besides wear and tear on their cer.

They decided to improve the old house again. They tore off the back porch, cleared out the hole and dug some more. They put in a cement foundation and got the kitchen pretty well along in 1956.

I am writing this 11 A.M. May 16, 1957. I was just down by the apartment house cutting grass when I heard a queer roaring. I couldn't figure it out. I thought it might be yellow jackets. I raised up to see, and the air was alive with bees. It was a big swarm. They went over Steals house and up into the woods.

We used to love picnics. After Lucia came, we kind of got out of the habit. John was in bad condition with Diabetes. He couldn't stand the excitement. He was in and out of the hospital for several years. He passed away November 16, 1955.

The last thing he made for the girls was a cabinet with a glass fromt, to keep Joans dolls in. He made toys for all of the children. Even for John and Jim. He made wagons, wheelbarrows, kiddy-kar, chair, doll bed, doll house, rattle for each child as it came along, horses, stilts. He was toy mender. I was always fixing broken dolls and dishes. Laura's doll aunt Nora sent, an old fashioned one, was a very nice one. Even the wrists, were joined. Laura called it Sweetheart. It was always broke. They were sure that grandma could fix it. There came a time when it was beyond that, so it had to go into the dump.

Paul left me his marbles and little horse grandpa made. The marbles are still in the sack he brought them from grandma Ascenzi's house in. He said they would just get lost if he took them home!

Thr girls used to form a line, each holding each others dress tail. They would play chu- chu-train all over the place.

Every year, soon as the fruit is out of the bloom stage, they start eating and throwing it all over the place. They climb trees like a monkey. One day, when Janet was quite small, Laura came rushing in and said Janet wouldn't get down. I rushed to see and she was way up on the very last limb. Not a thing to hold on to. She was just settinga there like a bird. I often look at that cherry limb and wonder how she ever got down without falling.

They each had a tricycle, one bike and one scooter. They would go up and down the gravel road in a string. Many a time, came in with skinned knees or broken skin, looking for bandages. Some even had gravel in their skin. They are in and out of the house a million times a day, banging doors after each of them. Always a continuous stream, after grandma for cookies, graham crackers, candy or bread. Lucia used to cuddle up real cozy and say "I want to tell you a secret and don't tell anybody! I want some hot, brown cocoa". Sometimes I loose track of who got what, and it's a regular mad house. I would chase some out at the back door, and more comes in the front. In bad weather, there is a regular mud path, through the kitchen. Coats, boots and scarves all over the place. I just got the house cleaned up and there comes more kids and their friends for a change? At times it seems like Maplewood is a seething mass of kids.

I made beads and bought lunch pails for their Christmas. The girls would sell the beads faster than I could make them.

Leola Faye was gifted with the ability to express her disapproval by tilting her head back, extending her chin and bring her eyebrows down in a scowl that could simply stop you in your tracks. They are all tiny for their age. One beautiful day they were playing in a house we were building for Ida. It never was completed, was later torn down.

This day they were all dressed in sun suits. Lucia Mae came running to the house and said, "come and see what Leola did in Ida's house". I expected that she had carried in a pile of dirt. Instead, it was a little wet spot. I knew that would never do, so for the benefit of the rest, I acted real perturbed. I said, "Leola Faye, you dirty girl! Don't yoiu ever do that again". She was just commencing to talk good. She tilted her head back, stuck out her little chin, her big eyes simple snapping fire. "Well", she exclaimed. "I tant doe awound wif at in my bowdy!"

For want of more appropriate words, I said, "you get out of here and go home before I paddle you good". I thought to myself, many a truth comes from the mouth of babes.

Nora sent a box of antique toys, souvenirs, statues and book ends. Each birthday, the girls would come and remind me it was someones turn to receive a gift from the box. In a few days, it came back busted. Some could be mended, others not.

While keeping little Laura one day, Bert and Mary came to visit. I was in the kitchen, Mary was in the bedroom dressing to go out. Bert and John were playing with Laura in her buggy. All at once a big wind seemed to hit the house. I yelled, "what was that?" Mary didn't know. Bert and John didn't know anything had happened. The next day, the paper said we had a earthquake. Later sister Dora came. They looked at Laura. She was so cute. After they left, I picked up the baby and boy what a queer odor she had. I examined her from stem to stern. Everything was okay. Next day, she was red as a boiled lobster. A fine case of the measles.

John took Dora, Joan, and myself for a ride. We got up in the hills and Dora said, "Look at that queer cloud". We didn't look. Next day, the paper said a twister hit Scholles. So I decided next time I will pay attention when spoken too.

Before we got the TV, I had a house full of little girls. Now they are actresses, acrobats, jugglers and goodness knows what not. They are usually each performing her specialty, until i'm fit to be tied. I used to stand it as long as possible, then grab the nearest one and give her a whop and yell, "get for home before I wring your necks". Kids fly in all directions. Ten to one, they will be back in a few minutes, bad as ever. This has gone on for years and I hope it will continue for maany more.

About the year 1945, I was sitting in my easy chair, knitting some little red mittens. All at once the house seemed to tremble. I looked over at Spooks. He looked up at me. I thought he was scratching, so I continued knitting when wham it went again. I thought to myself, if he does that again, I will get up and dust his pants. I glanced out of the window, The shrubs were dancing a jig. I was either nuts, or it was an earthquake. I raised over and shut the oil stove off, grabbed Spooksie by the collar and dragged him outside, rushed to the Thompsons to see if they felt what I did. Joan was scared silly. All were excited, but no worse than I was. When Paul was little, we got him a little red wagon. He had lots of fun with it. The girls in turn used it until nothing was left but the front wheels. The rear wheels were lost first. The girls used to put their dolls it it and drag it up and down the road. No need to look and see where they were, I could hear them all over the place.

When Spooks was little, one day he caught one of my chickens and had tore half of the skin off of it. It was still alive, I was so angry I grabberd him by the collar, and gave him a good trouncing with the dead chicken. He took it for a while, and not a whimper. Pretty soon he said that's enough of that and was going to bite me. I turned him loose and yelled "get for home", heaving the chicken after him. He never killed any more chickens. As long as he lived, he would stand so much, then tell me it was time to quit.

Our neighbor, Lillie Kruger, had a little dog they called Bootsie. Every time he came into our yard, there was a fight, until Lillie trained him to just come to the fence. He would sit and wait until she came after him. Last time he came over they were in a fight. John was trying to grab our dog. I got a bucket of water for Lillie to throw on them. She let fly anbd caught John in the seat of the pants. I was scared stiff he would blow up, but he just laughed. So when Spooksie got to having heart attacks, at about 14 years of age, we had him put to sleep. Lillie did the same with her Bootsie first.

The people who live behind our place, had a dog they called Tippy. He and Spooksie also were enemies. One day I heard Spooksie barking like he was in trouble. I ran out to see what was wrong and Tippy had him by a sore ear. Spooksie waws just sitting there calling me to help him. I am sure the other dog whould have killed him if I hand't heard him.

Spooksie had evidently been hit by a car. He came staggering home a few days before with a large cut on his head and a tooth knocked out of the socket. We had to take him to a veterinary to have the tooth cut loose. He also was blind in one eye, we discovered later.

One other time, when he was quite young, he ran under Axel John's car and got his leg broke in the Hock Joint. We took him to the vet and he put a cast on Spooksie. When he was let out of the house to go for a walk, he always went across the road to Lillies place. So I would carry him out and set him over the fence. The cast was heavy and he would wind up down over the hill. Then when he got back to the fence he would always bark for me to come and help. That's how I knew he was in trouble.

When Paul was little, I had a cactus. It was real sticky. I told the kids not to touch it. One day Paul came running to me and said "grandma, I got a splinter in my mose". I looked and I was scared to death that maybe he had put something up his nose. I rushed him to the door for a good light. The end of his nose was full of cactus splinters. It took some time getting them all out with the tweezers.

Joan had been playing outside. I was busy sewing a little dress for her. Dora came carrying her in and said, "Joan must be sick, just look at her face". It was red as a beet. First I thought she was cooked from heat. I took her dress off and then sat in the door sponging her with cold water to cool her off. She went to sleep. Dora took her home. After a while, she came back with a silly grin on her face and said, "Joan has the measles". Then I was scared sick. I heard if they go in instead of coming out, it will kill the patient. I spent the next few hours almost in a state of insanity. But as she didn't go into fits or seem to get worse, I gradually returned to normal.

Another thing we won't ever forget, was when they moved a nine room house right between our places. It is now the big apartment house on 49th & Nevada Court.

One day when Helen was little, John brought her in wet as a drown rat. She had been standing under the down spout of the garage.

Joan used to have a little friend, Mickie Clock. She thought he was so nice.

One day we dressed Joan as a queen. We gave her a ride in a wheelbarrow. We took pictures of her.

John made a kiddy kar for Donnabelle Joan. When Paul got to big for it, grandpa put larger wheels on it. Paul got on it and said "too big", and got off again.

When Paul was borm, we made a beautiful pink bassinet. He was a blond. One day I was at the house. He was kind of timid. I said something to him. He grabbed hold of the chair back, ran up it with his feet like a monkey. I will never forget the first train Joan saw. She just laughed and laughed.

Paul was pestering grandpa. He said, "young fellow, i'll throw you clear up on the garage". That was duck soup for Paul. He said, "allright, go ahead!" I had a flower called Red Hot Poker. Every year he would pull the bloom off and pick my snapdragons to make little puppy dogs. I showed him how to my regret. When he was just walking good, one day he was up on a seven cord pile of wood.

When Paul was small, I went with John to Heppner. I was worried all the time I was gone. When I got back, they said he almost drowned in the creek. Another time, he fell and cut his head on the piano leg. Another time he got a big splinter in his foot. The doctor couldn't find it. Later, Dora was soaking his foot. He went to sleep and Dora commenced to pressing over his foot and out popped a big splinter.

Joan and Paul used to open both doors to the bathroom. Joan would ride on her bricycle and Paul on his kiddy kar. They would go round and round, through the bathroom, kitchen, dining room, living room and bedroom. They made a complete circle.

When Laura was born, I was keeping Joan and Paul. I started to take him to an outside toilet. I fell and badly injured my left shoulder. I couldn't raise my arm. I cared for the kids anyhow, with one hand.

We had three children and parents with us for Christmas dinner. We went to visit Andrew Estberg and they had a full length mirror in a door. When Joan saw herself, she had us all in stitches. She ducked, turned, posed and made faces until she got tired.

We took them to the stock show. Joan would pat her hands and say "dah-dah".

Janet was a beautiful little girl with lonog curls, and big brown eyes. Each child was something special to me. Joan (first grandchild), Paul (only grandson), Laura (my namesake), Janet (long curls), the rest were all welcome bundles of joy. They were all darling.

Just before Georgia was born, George got hit by a hit-and-run driver. Dora worked over him for hours. He was in shock. Later, she had the baby. One day, a couple of years later, I was sewing on the machine. Georgia ran into the leaf and cut a big place in her head. Joan fell into a hole and cut her little knee badely. Before Leola was born, Helen put an open safety pin into her nose. The doctor took it out. Janet fell on a toy dish and cut her forehead. Georgia jumped onto a rusty piece of wire and ran it about 2" into her foot. It still shows a scar when it's cold.

When Janet was three, I heard her yelling. She had her foot fast in a big walnut tree. If she would had let go with her hands, it would have broke her leg. Lucia caught her foot in a concrete block. Another time, Helen and Lucia were up on the roof beams of Ida's house. It was in 1952 that Janet was in the top of thae cherry tree. ASnother time, Georgia, Helen and Leola, just a little fellow, had laid boards of different lengths across the ceiling beams. They were using it for a house. I almost fainted when I discovered it. Georgia was so helpful getting baby and boards down. I was all set as each one went by, I gave them a good wham on the seat.

I had a little red shovel. Every time I tried to work in the garden, the kids wanted to help. Can you imagine gardening with that many wiggle worms around?

John and I got a high chair and baby buggy for Laura. So as it was handed down, each baby got measles. Seems like they always have the flu.

In 1951, all Thompsons and John and I, all in a 2-seat car (eleven in all). Mother had warned the kids not to complain or grandma and grandpa would get out and walk. We met old friends and relatives while the kids were packed into the car roasting. There were eight in the back seat.

The first year after we came here in 1933, there was always some kind of animal getting into our garden. They still do. There has been rabbits, chickens, cows, ducks, horses, dogs, seagulls, pigeons, even a squirrel in one of the apple trees. Skunks used to come into the yard.

May 1953: I caught a white canary. Even a cougar was near.

The road always got terrible in the winter. Many a car has been stuck. John got into a snowdrift. He had John Zwifiel pull him out with a team of horses. One day, John was hurrying to work. The bottom literally fell out of the road. The car was stuck for several days before he got it out. Another time, Ida was going to work. She had a girl friend with her. The car slipped from the road and turned over. A second car went off the road directly above them. Someone stopped to help the second car and discovered Ida. They helped them out of the car. Luckily no one was hurt. They went on to work.

When John was working on Ida's house, the ladder slipped. He fell into an opening for a window. It skinned his side terrible and broke some ribs. Another time we were up on Mt. Hood, John, Mary and I. All at once a wheel came flying down the road ahead of us. A man behind us stopped. Our axle was broke. The man left his wife and two children with Mary and I, while he took John clear to Portland to get parts to fix the car. Then the family came home with us and had supper with us.

Another time we was up there and ran into a snowbank. It threw me under the front seat. I broke the windshield with my elbow trying to get up onto the seat again.

About 1935 we had a fire in the ceiling. Mary discovered it and we put it out. Later, we could see a house here burning. A lady died in the fire.

George had several chimney fires.

Lillie Kruger had a hole burned in their roof.

Mr. Zweifil had a big barn and other buildings burn. A bull was killed in the fire. We took in a lot of their rabbits until they could care for them. After Mr. Zweifil sold the place, the barns burned again.

Then, one day a horse was by the crrek. Another horse came up and they reared up to fight. I looked away for a minute. Next time I looked, one horse was gone. Pretty soon a youngster came up and wanted to know if someone could give them a hand. A horse was in the creek. Several people came and they worked for hours trying to get the horse out. At last they found the leg was broke. So the vet came and gave it a shot that put him to sleep. A short time later, another horse was in the creek further up from our place. They got a tow truck and hoisted it onto land again. After that, the kids came in one day and said a car was in the creek. Sure enough, someone had parked his car up at the top of the hill and it ran away. Lucky it didn't come down the road when a lot of children were plalying in it.

As years go by, I would make notes of things to put into this book. So it's hard to get all the data for a subject all together. So I will have to put it in as it is located and hope it will make sense.

When we had the big earthquake, John was cleaning busses for the traction company. He was ready for lunch and had to take his insulin. He was just ready to take his shot, when the jolt hit. He thought it was a friend, Bert Million, rocking the bus. John was all ready to tell him off, whlen he heard it was a quake. Ida was working at her desk for Sprouse Rietz. She thought someone had jerked the chair.

Again in 1953, I was writing a letter to a minister, Herbert Armstrong. I was just writing, "not every one that says Lord, Lord! shall enter the kingdom of God. But he who does the will of the faster, only". There was a shock. I ran into John's room and asked if he felt the earthquake. He hadn't noticed it. A little later a special announcement came over the TV. It said a quake hit Portland about half an hour ago. There will be more news at 11 P.M. I had been listening to Bob Hope on TV. John was in bed.

I had a little informal pool in the back yard. It was a tub set in, and a mound in back of it with rocks and flowers on the sides. Every once in a while the children went to clean the pool and refill it. I was glad to have them do it, as I was exhausted already. Generally the larger ones, about the size of a five year old, would turn the job over to the wee ones. By the time I noticed what they were doing, they had most of the tender plants sloshed out of the ground. The rest were looking like they had been in a cloud burst. It generally wound up with me cleaning the pool, packing water to refill it, plus retrieving what was possible to do anything with. Besides, gather up an assortment of tin cans, jars, buckets and perhaps a few sticks thrown in for good measure. And from one to a half dozen rockxs that had just somehow managed to get out of place.

Of course, no one ever knew who was responsible as each would say, "I didn't do it". I usually was to exhausted to trail down the culprit. So I fixed things as best I could and promised not to let them do it again. Of course, grandma can't remember very well and soon they were doing it all over again.

There's no doubt the TV is having it's affect on the younger generation. The place is still swarming with amateur actors from slowns to prima donas. Just this morning, as Laura was on her way to school in Maplewood, she went out the door. She called back "good bye! We will see you about Robison Cruso today". They were off im a shower of snow, and sliding all over, as the ghround was covered with snow and ice.

Mary used to sleep on the lounge that opened into a bed. At night, I had to set the bird cage in back of the bed. One night I heard the cage rattle. I called and she said it was okay. Pretty soon I heard it again. So I went to see about it. She was sound asleep hanging onto the cage stand. The cage was dangling over the bed.

Spooksie loved to run under the head of her bed and scratch his back. The bed would just jump a jig. She would get furious at him, chase him away and in a few minutes, he was back agian. If he would hear some strange sound at night, he would let out his famous bark that would send your heart pounding for several minutes. Before you could settle down to sleep again, he had the same habit of rubbing under the piano bench. Another stunt he would pull is if we went away and left him at home, he would manage to get into the bedroom, turn back the covers on Johns side of the bed at the foot. Just like soomeone had done it.

April 16, 1954: This being Good Friday, it didn't turn out so good for the family. Laura cut her leg with the cycle. Janet got hit on the finger with a hard ball. Lucia had an infection in her hand. I got my usual breaking out on my ankles from working in the garden. It was caused from some weed or insect. The places form water blisters.

April 19, 1954: An iceberg in the waters of Florida.

April 20, 1954: Strange things are happening. Strangge ashes are falling over many states. Some think it is from an exploded bomb test. They think it's responsible for pits in the windshields of autos. Lucia Mae got hit on the forehead with a baseball bat. She has a big bunp to show for it. Helen has sprained her foot. George's car won't run. Time marches on.

April 23, 1954: Lucia's head is still badly swollen. It seems something is always happening around here.

June 2, 1954: Dora had gone to the city park with Lucia and some children in her class at school. Donnabelle Joan stayed with me. We had lunch and looked through the Montgomery Ward catalog all afternoon. She had an enlarged gland in her neck.

June 4, 1954: Donnabelle Joan has the mumps on both sides. All of the girls passed to a higher grade in school this week.

June 23, 1954: Helen, Leola and Laura all have the mumps. George has been doing gardening on his own about a month now.

June 24, 1954: Lucia has the mumps.

June 25, 1954: Janet has the mumps on one side. Georgia has the mumps.

April 11, 1955: Leola came bounding into the house out of a rain storm, with two comic books under her arm. After settling herself comfortably on the arm of my chair, she said, "what is a Kanger?" I said, "You mean Kangaroo?" "Yes", she replied, "Well", I said, "they have a long thick tail, and four legs. They sit up and the fromt legs are real short. They have a skin pocket on their tummy and carry their little babies in it". "Yes", chirped Leola. "And when the babies want to eat, they stick their heads into the pocket". Well, that floored me. As I had never even gave it a thought as to just how they would eat when tiny. I sure got a big bang out of that one. Just to think, here I was, trying to tell her something about the Kangaroo and she ups and tells me things that even I didn't know, about the facts of life.

August 12, 1955: Yippie! At last I have accomplished something in trying to train my grnaddaughters.

After having chased them first from the Gold Drop Plum tree, to the big walnut tree by the kitchen, I gave up and finished supper.

Next, I was attracted to the two smaller ones, Lucia and Leola, They were in the other walnut tree at the front of the house, singing some cute song about a little puppy. All of a sudden, I heard Leola, the younger of the two, yell out, "stop that, or I will tell grandma and whe will spank the pants off of you". (An expression I use when wishing to emphasize a point). Later, when Leola came in, I asked what was the trouble. She said "Lucia was trying to beat me up for nothing. She hit me and scratched me clear down here. She stuck out her little leg for my inspection. Perhaps my eyes are worse than I thought, for I couldn't see any scratches.

Donnabelle was talking to her dad. He remarked, "that's why I am getting gray". She said, "You're not gray". "How do you know?", he replied. She looked at him and said, "you always say I'm in your hair".

When I happen to find the girls all on top of the garage, 5' high, or in the Walnut tree, actually two or three limbs from the ground, or on the top of our house which I could reach standing flat footed on the ground. Or find them up in the big Snowball bush, it scares me half to death. I can just see their little bodies laying there on the ground in a heap. If not actually dead from a broken neck or fractured skull, surely several bones broken. Some of their bones don't look to be larger than a lead pencil.

I yell, "what in heck are you kids doing up there?" Get down from there just as fast as you can. The next time I catch you up there, I will spank the pants off from everyone of you". Then everyone of them start climbing down yowling and yakking because they just can't play any place. Ten to one they make me so furious before the last one is down, that I tell them to just go home and stay there. They usually go for a few minutes, then soon are back into something else.

Then quite often my conscious will tap me on the shoulder and say "whoop there old girl, just why do they love to climb every where? Remember when you just started to school, how you were just as big a duck in the puddles as any? How when the kids would all race out to the big stump that was uprooted by the road? How you and the others took turns climbing up and out to the end of a big root that stuck up in the air? When you got to the top, how you each had to just about stand on your ear to see back into the hollow root where a little hummingbird made her nest and had her young? How you all would walk on top of the board fence for a half mile to school if you had time, or going home at night?"

Who used to climb up the big gate post to look into the bluebird house? Or climb up big second growth fir trees, scoot out onto the end of the limb, then on down to the next, and next until you got to the bottom? Who used to clamber out in the swamp on old logs, among skumk cabbage to reach the tallest alder? Or see who could go the highest, pick the dry burrs and chew them like tobacco and see who coulod spit the furthest?

Who used to climb the ladder leaning against the house? Who used to get up on the very peak, then shimmy over to the kitchen stove pipe and back? Who used to climb upon the horse barn and jump off onto the fertilizer pile? It didn't smell exactly like orchids, but it sure was fun. Who used to have a long pole and climb to the top of the rail fence and see who could vault the farthest? Or climb the Elder tree in the barnyard? Or walk on high stilts? Or climb to the peak of the barn on the inside, walk along the upper plates, holding on by cracks in the boards or hooking your fingers in knot holes. Then jump off into the hay mow? Remembewr, how after grandfather left the farm, a couple of kids used to go down there and climb every fruit tree on the place and go in, over and under every building on the place?

Who went over into the back woods, where an old lady by the name of Bozark was buried years before and a split rail fence had been put around it. How you and Claud took flowers to put on the grave. You got over the fence allright, but scared to death the grave and ground would cave in and it sure felt like it. With all the gopher holes and thick moss and twigs all over, you didn't care to stay long, did you? As you started to climb out, the rotten rails and moss almost tumbled in on you. Between your own extra burst of speed, and Clauds help, you managed to get up and over the old fence. I guess that was the last flowers Mrs. Bozark ever had given to her.

Remember how sister Dora, who was working for grandma, wanted you and Guy to go part way home with her? Just as you were coming into the edge of the woods, suddenly a bull let out a big bellow? How you wlew down the road toward home? About 100 yards down the road, you leaped through the fence and hid under a big log. You knew which ever side the bull came up on, you could get out on the other and he couldn['t get over? Claud was on top of the log. Dora got to the bank edge where the log was. She sat down and commenced to scream and laugh. You thought the bull caught her or she was scared silly. Then you peeked out and there was your brother Bert coming from a job he had been working on.

Well you never got seriously crippled from such escapades, why worry now about the girls getting hurt?

Then I say to myself, "well, you were stronger and more sure footed". Now I wonder, was I, or was it just luck that I didn't break my neck? There was a 3-sided porch roof to the front entrance of our home at Laurel. Claud and I used to go upstairs, take the window out, and take turns climbing out onto the roof. One slip was all that was required to bust some bones. But we lived and my baby brother is a great grandpa. He has had two strokes, but still going strong, I hope.

What about the time dad sent you to get the cows? You got so busy playing, you didn't see Bert and Guy go by with the cows. You went home, and the only time you tried to pull a fast one by saying you couldn't find them, only to have your brothers tell dad just what you were doing. You came near getting your ears cuffed.

Honestly now, just what do you suppose makes children act like they do?

The older grandchildren, that is Donnabelle Joan, Paul and Laura, were ailing. We called a Dr. Pearson from Multnomah. He came and was examining the children. Dora was trying to keep them down. They were climbing in and out of their cribs. She remarked, "these kids climb around like monkeys". The doctor looked at her with a coy grin and remarked, "perhaps they inherited it?"

I went through life without being very badly crippled, except for my eye, until after I was 60 years old. Then I cut my hand while cutting Dahlia Bulbs. It went clear to the bone. It made a scar about 1" long. It still bothers me and I guess it always will.

August 1951: Lucia Mae had been begging for money. I had paid the girls for going to the store. I said, "why do you want money?" She replied, "I want to save it!" I said, "what do you want to save it for?" She replied, "Grandma, you sure are stupid".

September 1937: Joan started creeping.

November 16, 1937: John made a bed. Joan throws toys behind her. She says kitty, da- da, mama and I (meaning Ida). She will sit on the floor and keep perfect time with, first one foot then the other. She sits on the foot stool and keeps her foot going as if dancing to Turkey in the Straw, while Mary plays the music. She lost the little step when Ida tried to show her how to dance.

November 17, 1937: Joan fed herself with a little spoon for the first time.

November 21, 1937: Joan took her first step alone with her left foot. She has three teeth now, two lower and one upper through and another upper just coming. She is now riding on my sweeties foot.

January 15, 1938: Joan had her first cold.

August 4, 1938: Joan is 29 3/8" tall.

October 10. 1938: Dora left baby with me this morning. She is cute eating Thompsons seedless grapes. She's setting on my lap while I work on a sampler George gave me. It says, 'In Heaven A Nobel Work Was Done When God Gave Man A Mother'.

April 21, 1939: Joan is 31" tall.

August 20, 1939: Paul is one month old and weighs 8 pounds 1 ounce.

January 23, 1940: Paul cut his first tooth.

July 10, 1940: Paul took his first step.

October 22, 1940: Joan is 34 3/4" tall. Paul is 28" tall.

March 1941: Donnabelle weighs 26 pounds.

April 29, 1941: A new baby was born. Laura Louise, 5 pounds 6 ounces.

June 13, 1941: Dora and George took the family on a picnic. Joan was awful tired that evening.

June 14, 1941: Joan was sick in the evening. We took her to the hospital on Tuesday. The doctors held a conciltation. They couldn't figure it out. Was it some new disease? Wednesday they sent her home with the measles (3-day variety).

September 29, 1941: Paul had the measles.

November 1, 1941: Donnabelle weight 34 pounds, with hat, coat, leggings, purse, shoes, dress, slip and panties.

November 24, 1941: Donnabelle weight 11 pounds 15 ounces and is 24" long.

February 4, 1942: Laura started creeping.

March 12, 1942: The weather has been sunny for the last week. The trees are in leaf. It sure is spring.

March 20, 1942: Laura's running all over the place. She has no teeth yet. She is 25" tall.

May 15, 1942: Took Laura to the doctor.

May 18, 1942: Laura has a head cold. Her milk is too rich. She is breaking out on her arm.

May 19, 1942: Laura has a nice case of the measles. She weighs 14 1/2 pounds.

May 22, 1942: Laura still is broken out. She is very cross. She wants to be on the floor, which is too taboo!

May 27, 1942: Laura took steps alone.

August 13, 1942: Janet weight 8 pounds 11 ounces. Laura is 15 months and weighs 15 pounds.

November 10, 1942: Joan played a part in Minstrel school at Maplewood school. She was a scream as a little picaniny dressed in ragged coveralls, red stockings, wig and black grease paint. She is so tiny. She sang "Mammys Little Baby Likes Shortnin Bread".

January 14, 1943: Laura has 6 teeth.

February 7, 1943: Joan is sick with a head cold.

February 11, 1943: Joan has the measles.

April 9, 1943: Joan lost her first tooth. No one noticed it was gone until I noticed it.

October 15, 1943: Laura weighs 18 1/2 pounds. Janet weighs 17 pounds.

June 21, 1944: Helen raised up alone, she stands in her bed.

July 15, 1944: Helen weighs 15 pounds. Laura weighs 20 pounds.

July 19, 1944: Helen is creeping. Laura is 32" tall. When Helen stood up, Johnny Cason said, "look at old party pants!"

June 6, 1945: Laura is 33 1/2" tall. She is 4 years old. Janet is 33" tall. Helen is 28" tall.

January 14, 1949: Cold weather has continued since Christmas. It has been freezing most of the time. It has only thawed for a couple of days. Since New Years, it has been frozen solid. Lucia Mae is commencing to walk alone. I saw her today as Dora and Joan went to the clinic to see about her eyes. I had Helen, Georgia and Lucia for company. I sure think Lucia is a sweet little thing. She reminds me of Donnabelle Joan when she was a little girl.

May 21, 1949: Mother came home after the birth of Leola.

June 1949: Helen came running in the house all excited and said, "grandma, come quick and see the hell-of-a-copter!"

July 1950: Georgia was telling me that the chimney was on fire, and she exclaimed, "thank goodness daddy was home".

On another occasion, Georgia gave herself a hair cut. It was June 17, 1948. Georage and Dora and I had been busy mixing concrete to fix the back walk. The rest of the girls had gone to Mullens, to watch them load furniture to move. Georgia cut her hair clear to her skin on the right side. The crown was cut real close in perfect waves. The front was cut clear to the skin in places. The left was cut in perfect waves. It gave her a dignified expression. It was a scientific job. It didn't seem possible she could do it. I said, "Georgia, what in the world did you do that for?" She exclaimed, "therer was a flea in there". It was really that her head was sweaty from being in the sun. What kids won't do. When Leola was about 5 years old, they were going to Crater Lake. All of a sudden Leola said, "mama, did you ever have a bee in your hair?" Dora said, "Yes, sometimes". Leola said, "did it eber stinged you?" Dora said, "no, I don't think so". Then Leola replied very calm like, "well, there is one in your hair now. I didn't want to scare you".

September 4, 1950: Leola's hair is curly all over her head.

September 18, 1950: The girls brought me a bottle of pop to open one day. They had shaken it good all the way up here. When I opened the bottle, it went all over the kitchen. One day later, I had given them some root beer. Georgia said, "member when Laura shaked the boddle and spoiled the poda sop?"

May 19, 1957: Georgia, Lucia and Leola, should be healthy, if getting close to nature has anything to do with it. They are down at the corner making chocolate cakes. They are going to frost them with shattered Snowball blossoms. They are using the mud puddle for a sink to wash their hands in. It sure don't look enticing to me. The grass I have been protecting sure looks sick. I guess it will come out of it when I use the mud to fill the hole in again, so cars can go by.

Yes, children in the city have fun in the snow sliding down the hill. Once in a while, someone gets an arm or leg broken. They use every kind of contraption to sleigh ride on. Last year Johnny Carpenter, an announcer on TV, his little girl came down the hill riding high on a bed pan, so the paper said.

Even the children can play ball or jump rope. If they don't have welts all over from the grass fleas, or mosquitoes, they get well in time to get more bites. This morning I am cleaning doors and the bath tub, where they washed after playing in a mud hole most of the day. More fun.

I used to have some hair raising experiences riding with John in the car. One day we went for a ride. No one knew where we went. Spooksie was tiny. I had him in my lap, under my cape. We went over the hills, and came out eventually at Vernonia. But in the meantime, we were coming down a steep hill. The road was slick. The car started sliding. I was scared sick. I thought, "oh why don't he stop the car?" I would have jumped out, but I saw it was on the edge of a hill;. If the car went over it, it would crush me and roll for a terrible distance. I couldn't get out on his side of the car, so I just said, "here goes nothing", and settled back waiting for the ocrash that dindn't come.

If John would get mad at a car driver, he owould take out after the car yelling names and shaking his fist. Regardless of where our car was heading. More than once, I was sure he was going off the road. One time whe had been to the beach. George or Jack was drivbing. Sove young fellow cut in ahead of us. John commenced yelling at them and was going to throw a pop bottle at them.

Another time, we had been on a trip. The car was steaming and he was trying to make it a trip to eternity, I guess. Anyhow, he was sailing along. We came to a sharp turm. We went around it on two wheels. He widened the road a couple more feet, I bet. I expected the car to explode any minute. At last, after passing several filling stations, he stopped and had water put in the car. When it cooled down enough so they could.

November 16, 1955 was another date I will never forget. It was snowing and a regular blizzard. John seemed the same as usual. He was grouching because there wasn't anything good on the TV. Just when we culd enjoy it, he sat by the stove all evening. I had macaroni with cream sauce over it. John refused to eat anything but biscuits. Later he said, "what was that gooblie gish we had for supper?"

I wemt to bed about 10 P.M. I kissed him good night and said, "i'll see you in the morning". He replied, "yep, me too".

The next morning I found him laying on the floor in his room, dead. Still fully dressed.

About 1954, the corner next to our property was a jungle of Rose Bush vines, grass, holly and lilac. So John told Mr. Walters that I was going to clear out the jumble. He said okay with him. So I went to work on it with a cycle. I was chopping at berry vines. The first thing I knew, I had cut three fingers clear to the bone. Needless to say, the jumble is still there, except for a couple of wheelbarrow loads I had taken out.

April 1957: Dora had just went to visit Maplewood school. I got a call from Janet's school at Multnomah. She had been hit in the head with a baseball bat and should go to the doctor. The doctor cut off some of her hair and took two stitches in her scalp. She recovered and all is well to date, May 22, 1957.

For several months, Laura Louise has been having dental work done. She works in the cafeteria at Woodrow Wilson High School. She gets $5.00 a month. She saves it to pay on her dental work.

Well, first thing we know, we will have a house full of teenagers. Most people can't cope with one or two. What about us with four or five?

Well, when we first bought this place, in 1933, there was two rooms. We scraped up enough lumber from the place in Rose City to build a little bedroom. It opened into the kitchen. We took off shingles that came inside of new room. With them and shingles of the same color from a little house in the dump. We made a nice room. It only leaked in one place. Then the battle of the roof started. So far, we have seven roofs on and only in 1956 did I discover where the water poured in by the big buckets full. It was along the edge of athe roof all the time.

Before John passed away, it got so bad, we put a plastic sheet to the ceiling and sloped it to the wall where we cought the water in buckets, jars, cans, dishpan and kettles. We had a terrible time.

We paid $247.00 to two different roofing companies before we got a good roof. Besides what John did.

We built on a back porch and put a bath tub at one end of it. Then we built on a screened front porch and tore off the back porch. We built on a bedroom, bath, kitchen and back porch. John put up rafters to half of the roof and shingled it. One day I happened to glance up at it and the roof was almost a half circle. So John braced it up. All was well and eventually we got the balance of the roof put on. We got tired of running out in the weather to look at the stars. So we built on an extension to the porch. We put in a chemical toilet for women and the children. At last, we tore that out and put in a toilet inside our house, in the bathroom. Then we put in a spetic tank. We turned the little room into a room to store empty fruit jars, until filled. Then we take them to the hole we call a basement.

The first year, we built a fruit closet in one corner of the garage. We built shelves in the basement. Then we tore the one out of the garage. We had a glass plate in the basement all set for canning. We tore that all out and made a new set of shelves and work space. It's still there, only never used as water gets pretty deep there at times.

We built a stairs to the attic and made a nice sewing room that later turned into a guest chamber. We tore the ceiling out of the living room and sealed it with venearing.

We made a window opening, between the first bedroom and the living room, into book shelves. Later we got a book case. Then we tore that out and built in a case sealed wall. We tore out the closet and extended into the first kitchen, enlarging the dining area. By that time, the floor was rotten in the first bedroom. We tore it out and put down a new floor and new under pinning. We built an overhead closet for storage, along one side of the little bedroom.

We built a chimney and tore out the gas fixture and put in an electric stove and a water heater. We made a built in closet for dishes in the dining room. We tore out the old sink and put in a baetter one. We made a built in cupboard alontg the east wall.

We had a built in cooler in the old kitchen and still use it for overflow. It was rigged up for a dumb waiter.

John made a ditch along the south side of the house before we built on the new kitchen. Now the drain empties under the house. He put in an outlet on the north side of the house and got a ditch about 6" above floor level. Now the floor has soaked and loosened up so the drain is low enough to plug when needed.

I went to raising canaries. I had the little room full of birds. Then kicked them out and fixed the room for John, as he was ailing for a long time.

We built on a little room on the garage for George's rabbits. Then tore it out and built on a room for milk goats. Then we tore out the shed and made a large goat house. Then we tore that out and built on a shed for a cow. Then we tore that off and made rabbit hutches. We tore that out and started a house for Ida. We then tore that down and made a raised flower bed.

Then we tore the shed off of the garage and after that, we had a wood heater. We tore it out and put in an oil stove and four big drums. One sprung a leak so we tore them out and put in a 275 gallon tank. Now we roast in the summer and freeze all winter. What comes next is any bodies guess. Oh yes, we had steps to the basement from the porch. We tore that out and put steps doiwn from the new kitchen. Then we dug outside steps to the basement, put in a window and tore it out. Then we filled in the hole woith dirt and planted flowers.

Almost every year we have an invasion of mice, termites, bees, blow flies, silver fish and wasps. Variety is the spice of life.

One year we had an invasion of snails. I got to counting them as I chopped them with the shovel. I had almost 1,000 at last count. That was the spring of 1955.

Well, after the big blizzard of 1955, when it commenced to warm up, I don't know. Anyhow, one night I was awakened by the drip-drip on ny head. I got up. By that time, more drips had started. I was grabbing towels, rags, pots, pans and a plastic sheet. Water, water every where! It was even running down the walls in a solid sheet. I had every pot, pan and kettle on the bed and I couldn't catch it all. It kept up for hours. I had to spend the rest of the night between the rocking chair and emptying water kettles. It beats anything I ever saw. Then I got the third roof put on that part of the house. It's commencing to groan now from the weight. I expect the house to collapse most anytime as the termites have lived high for the last 24 years. Besides, the house was built close to the ground and no ventilation.

The winter of 1956: a silver thaw broke down limbs of the big walnut tree. This, added to the litter from a big dead Weeping Willow, killed in the early freeze of 1955. It took months to get the limbs cleared up. Ida took some of it for wood in her fireplace.

We built a porch in the back. Then we tore off the floor and fixed under the foundation. We mended the floor and raised a corner of the porch.

We had no walks, so we put down boards. We tore them up and put down a walk made from boards in the wood pile. Then we tore part of that out and put in cement. It's now ready for replacement as part of the walk is broke.

I planted shrubs. I have chopped down millions of athem and still can barely creep around through the brush. I'm always making hay in what once was gardens.

I planted berries, then tore them out and planted them somewhere else. I chopped them all down and planted a hedge. It's always a battle. The neighbors planted a Laurel hedge. Now it's so high, I can't reach half way to the top. It's impossible to trim back.

One year was really something. They had a regular trail from the top of the trees to the bottom. We all stood waiting for days. As the caterpillars came down, we killed them with clubs, knives, hot water, fire and stove oil. We cut branches from the trees and dunked them in buckets, tub and wheelbarrow full of scalding water.

We also have slugs on the fruit trees and roses. There is a choice of color, green or blue slugs and aphids blue or green.

It got so we evcen had an invasion of cats until, in desperation, we removed the cause.

A robin built her nest at the far end of the garage. She left her young to die. Then she built her nest closer to the house. New we slip around quietly so as not to disturb the birds.

We had a little chicken house. We tore it down and built a larger one. Then we tore that down in a short while.

At one time we had two pigs. We sold them at double price. Then we had chickens and raised fryers. We had them by the hundreds. Still time goes on. At present, I have one canary, three parakeets and one goldfish.

I had just washed their hair, and cleaned them all up nice. I knew they were in the road putting dirt on their heads. I chased them out. The next thing I knew, I heard kids screaming. I went to see. There they all came up the hill. Janet was looking like a drown rat, covered with mud from head to foot. They had a swing in a Weeping Willow tree by the creek. The rope broke and Janet went plop. First, the other kids knew she was looking like a mud ball. It was the last straw. I grabbed Janet, gave her a couple of whoops on the seat, chucked her into the house, and told the kids to get their mother, if they had such a thing. I went to let my temper cool off.

Later, the girls came up and said Janet was nearly drowned. By that time I couldn't think straight and was terrible sorry for what I did. At the same time, hoping they had learned a lesson at least.

But later, events proved it was like rain on a ducks back.

Walters called Georgia 'prune face'. I was worried sick for fear the other children would give her that nickname.

Ida's friend, Marie, called Georgia 'stinkie'. I almost blew a gasket. Ida said, "think nothing of it. She calls her nephew that". I said, "it's okay, just don't call these kids such names".

In early 1953, we got a television, thinking it would quiet the children down. But what a shock it turned out to be when each of them let out a shriek of delight or horror as the play would call for. At times, each would be humming, squealing or laughing in a different key. Beside all the hullabaloo put on by the TV. At times I would like to reek vengeance on who ever was responsible for creating the first television set.

I had always dreamed of a cute little girl with long curls, having a doll house, furniture, dolls, toys and dishes to play with, keeping house for hours on end, sewing for their dolls and getting real pleasure out of them. Setting by the hour with a picture and story book. Putting them away nicey when finished and if one should accidently get broken, how she would feel so badly and I could cuddle and console her.

Axel John made a nice big doll houes with furniture for Donnabelle Joan. She was very careful with it for years. The last day that Paul was home, he placed the furnityre perfectly. When I went to put it away, after he passed awzay, the thought came to me that truly 'he has put his house in order'

From Janet on down, the kids got worse and worse about their toys and books. The first thing they do is take everything to pieces, brake arms and legs off of their dolls and mess up their hair. They cut up their books and string them all over the acre oof land we own between the two families.

Generally when the dolls or books are in a terrible condition, they will bring them to grandma to have them mended. They seem to think grandma should be able to perform miracles. I always keep a supply of adhesive tape, scotch tape and bandages on hand to patch up my Belle Victoria. Whether it be girl, doll or book. This goes on until there isn't enough pieces left to mend. Anything resembling a doll, we heave it into the garbage dump.

When we started Ida's house, there was a small barn that had been converted into rabbit hutches. There was quite a bit of usable lumber and 2x4's that we could use in her house. We were working away thinking out partitions when all of a sudden, wham went an object right by my head. It was Ida's hammer that slipped from her hand, just missing my head by a hairs breath. A day or so later the same thing happened. I figured I was to young to die yet. So I let someone else do it.

I was out at the barn one night, finishing up for the night. I stepped out on the platform and seemed to catch a glimpse of a star falling, not giving it much notice. Soon there was another. I rushed to the house and told other members of the family. We went into the yard and there were stars falling all over. It was a fascinating sight. That lasted for some time.

I got to be a regular Calamity Jane. I was always finding some tool, such as a wrench, open knife, hammer or something laying on the overhead timber, in the baarn. All they needed was a little time or jolt to come crashing down on my head.

There was a chicken wire fence running close along the walk to the barn. It was fastened to the end of the shed, right by the door. I was never to steady on my feet and many times had grabbed onto the fence to keep from falling. This evening as I was going into the rabbit shed, I just happened to glance down at the bottom of the wire and saw a sparkle as if a tiny light. I looked again and blinked my eyes. I looked some more. I almost touched it to see if it might be a drop of water sparkling. I guess it was good for me that I didn't touch it, for it turned out there was an electric wire touching the fence. The wire had burned into where the light was showing. I suppose the whole fence was electrified. I rushed to the house and told Axel John and he shut off the power and soon fixed the wires, which are still there and not looking too safe as it is fastened to a metal pipe set in the middle of one of my flower beds. Like Calamity Jane says, "I might go out there to work in my flowers, have wet feet and moist hands, touch that metal post, and get a shock and soon be playing a harp or shoveling coal". I have to look out all of the time. Something might get me, when i'm not looking.

Even the cook stove got so it would bite me every time I touched a kettle or put my hand on the edge of the work table that had an aluminum trim on the edge.

Several times, I got a reminder to look what I was intending to do before I did it and not just do things automatically.

The kids are all in Lillie's sleigh riding. Lillie took some pictures and gave us some.

When Lucia was real small, wew had three kittens. They all had long hair. One was beautiful deep orange color and tahe other two were dark gray with orange spots blended in. This time, they weere all on the vback porch playing with a few leaves that had fallen from tlhe Walnut tree. Lucia stood looking at them for several minutes, then she said, "oh boy, I sure do love them little cats". We couldn't keep so many, so we had to find other homes for the tllittle ki9ttens. When someone came and got the last one, there certianly was war in camp. All the smaller girls, from Laura on down, just cried their eyes out, no matter how much we tried to console them. The poeple who took the last one brought it back because it was a girl cat. So one day Ida took the mother and baby cat to the Humane Society when the children didn't know she was going to. When they found the kitten gone this time, they didn't mind it so much. The children had been taught that those resurrected will be brought back to be on the earth, wich will become a Paradise Home for those worthy of life under Gods Kingdom.

This day, I had scolded Lucia Mae for something she had done. In fact, it was a glass of cocoa she spilled by playing around. She broke one of my good glasses, so I said, "you just go home". Away she flew in a big huff. As she went, she yelled back at me, "well, if that's the way you're going to be, I just don't want to come back". I can just see her yet. She was so perturvbed, that she must have been enveloped in a cloud of smoke. She was that burned up.

Of all the commotion going on, the girls all got out their assortment of banks with a collection of nickles, pennies and dimes. They all went to Multnomah to get a gift for mother, as it is her birthday Decenber 31st. Janet got a funnel, Laura got a cookie cutter and a measuring spoon, Helen got some cough drops and a sack of camdy, Georgis got some bobby pins and a cute candle holder. They all swarmed in on grandma for boxes, ribbon and wrrapping paper. Those girls are sure small, but their voices are far from weak when they all get excited. They are all talking at once, it just makes my hair stand straight on end. It's simply impossible to think, as for talking, it's taboo until quiet reigns. All I can do is to keep making a hissing sound like shush, sh-sh-sh. Sometimes when I get real exasperated, my dentures will fly loose and by that time, I am just about fit to be tied. Am I glad when the storm blows over and the calm comes once more. Evren if my poor head does keep rocking as if struck by an earthquake. Then they will all simmer down and each one starts humming in low tones to herself. Thart riles my jagged nerves almost as bad as their talking among themselves.

We have only two channels on the TV, and six girls each want a different program.

The girls are all begging me to make a cake for mother, but I have a package of cake mix on hand and I will just let Donnabelle Joan make the cake at home to save me the trouble.

There is a short or something in the TV. When we stand by the set, it will work fine. Just the minute they walk away, the picture commences flopping and gets fuzzy. The kids simply go wild over it. Of all the silly contortions they go through in keeping the picture steady. You can't get any sense out of the picture, but it is just sas funnu watching the kids.

The family had been watching a play on the TV of Red Buttons holding his breath so long. Laura said, "can a person really hold their breath for two minutes?" Her dad said when he was in the army, some of the fellows would swim back and forth across the tank, two or three times without taking a breath. Laura looked at him kind of boubtful for a minute, then she said, "well, there sure must have been a tunnel under the water".

When the children are small, they have blue eyes. As they got older, they gradually turn brown. Janet and Georgia have big brown eyes that fairly dance when they are excited. The rest have small eyes.

Paul, Janet, Georgia and Lucia are left handed. The rest are right handed.

Paul, Helen, Lucia and Leola had light hair. The others had dark hair.

Janet, Georgia and Helen have dark hair that is almost black.

As Dora was either expecting or had a small baby and lived just across the street, it became record nature for me to run and look after the children, which I did a million times a day, from Donnabelle Joan on down to the present. If I wasn't running after them, they were after me for cookies, candy, gum or to have dolls or toys nmended, or patch up, or some of them with bandage or tape, or dig out splinters.

It is almost impossible to keep shoes on them, be it winter or summer. One winter Georgia had her feet frosted from running barefoot on the cold floor. Even, pretty dolls they got, the first thing they do is skin them down to the running gears and never put the clothes back on them again. It is torture to see the way they do nice toys. They throw them any and every place. Then they run right over the top of them. Books, clothing, everything gets the same treatment.

After all the years of trying to conform them, I just kind of ignore it as long as possible. I just don't have the oomph to deep after them.

I had a big billy goat in the old chicken house. He butted Axel John and almost broke his leg. I took care of Billy after that. One day he got loose in the barn. I was afraid to go in. I called George. He opened the door a crack to peek in. I gave him a shove in with the goat and slammed the door shut. Billy just happened to be friendly, so he got tied uop again. No harm done. I often thought what could have happened to poor George, had Billy been miffed at being shut up. He used to stand and butt the wall. lt seened like all hours of the day or night, we could hear him. After a few months, we gave him to a fellow who had a small ranch. Billy got hooked up in brush and choked to death. After all these years, when I happen to pick up certain pieces of board, I can tell just where it came from and instantly I am reminded of poor Billy. I bet the neighbors missed him also.

One day a small pig got in my garden. Mrs. Still helped get it out. She caught it, raised it over her head and sent it kerplop over the fence. I can't see yet what kept the pig from bursting wide open.

Axel John, Ida and Mary were going to Heppner one night. A deer bounded into their car, killing it. They reported the accident and went on.

The Clocks had a little dog. He came down and chewed several pieces of clothing on the line. The nexrt time he came in the yard, I caught him and tried to hand him to the little boy that owned him,. I boosted him up over the fence, then realized my shoulder was still crippled from the fall I hand with Paul. I said to the little boy, "take him quick". He just looked at me. I had to let loose of the squirming puppy with my crippled hand. Not wanting to hurt the pup, I held on as long as I could, then let him drop, head first, as it happened to be the other end of the dog that I couldn't let loose of. I felt just terrible about it.

I have Asthma so bad, I nevewr go to the neighbors, and I always felt like the boys mother had seen what happended and not knowing what really did take place. She probably figured that I deliberately threw the puppy over the fence, but there wasn't another thing I could have done about it at the time. Even now, it still bothers me at times.

Their chickens used to get into my garden. I would chase them out and one day, I found a nest with several eggs in it. I used the eggs for some of the damage of their chickens had done for some time. Every day that big red biddy would come over and reimberse me by leaving a nice fresh egg. Guess the neighbors got wise because one day she never came back. Or perhaps they put her into the stew kettle. I kind of missed the old girl at that.

Another time, I found a white hen had taken up residence in my shed. She also paid her way as best she could until I located who owned her.

Another time, it was raining terrible. I looked out and there was three young chickens trying to get out of the rain. They were nearlly drowned, so I caught them and put them into a dry place. After that, I tried to chase them away, but they always came back. Until one day they were quite large chickens. One day I found where they came from. The lady had gone on a visit and left them for others to look after. She came to me and was going to pay for the trouble. Then I decided, why not buy them? So I did and kept them quite a while and enjoyued them very much, as I always had a weakness for farm animals.

Another time, I woke up one morning to find a horse tied in my yard. George had found it on the road as he came home from work. So after a few hours, the man that owned it came looking for it. It finally got to the point that whenever anything was missing, from chickens to husbands, the people always came over or phoned us.

Our place is situated so we can see all the other places for a half mile around. It seemed like everytime I would look out, there would be somebody's animals, some place they shouldn't be. Then I would race to the phone and tell them. Pretty soon here would come the owner to get the animal back into their own boundaries. I kept them pretty much in order. I couldn't be on watch day and night, so one night some dog got in and killed a sheep. The lady that owned it came and asked if I heard dogs after the sheep. I hadn't, so I guess she thought I wasn't dependable. She hasn't come back much since.

My grandchildren are always going over to this lady's place and a couple of sisters live together. They give the children, toys, jewelry and fruit, even money this year for Christmas. It was so sweet of them to do and the girls loved it.

From the time of the first grandchild, we have had a battle to keep them off of the furniture. The windows are high and they couldn't see out except by standing on the davenport. We didn't mind it at first, with only a couple of little fellows, but as more came and they were larger, it wasn't so funny and the battle was on. Even my poor piano looks like it has went through a bombing siege. I have a cover for it, but not a one of them will leave the cover on the bench. They will grab it off and heavce it on a chair before you can say Jack Robinson. The little bums, from Janet on down, if there is a pencil or something on the piano they want, up they go on the bench before I realize what's happening. Each time I scold and chide them. But next time it is the same thing all over again. And why not? They are only little once and don't really mean to be naughty. Besides, grandmas always look nice with white hair. That is part of being a grandmother. Besides, they are old and doty, what do they know about what the younger generation want to do anyhow?

Axel John, being a Diabetic, also had Ulcers. He wa very easily disturbed. When he came home, I always tried to keep the children quiet so as not to irritate him. I guess I about drove myself to the point of distraction and couldn't keep them quiet. At that, I would send them home and before the last one got out the door, the first ones were coming back. It was just like trying to quiet a swarm of hornets.

Sometimes, when I was simply frantic and the kids chased home, here would come the mother saying, can the kids stay here until I go to town, or the doctors, or mothers, or something else. I would say yes, only hurry back. The minute I saw her come back, I would yell, get for home quick.

I have wiped more noses, brushed more toggled mops, than any other grandmother in the whole world. Their hair is fine and will simply matt as fast as you brushed it out. At last I tried to keep it braided. Most of them have thick hair and never got long enough to make good braids. It just wouldn't stay up, regardless of whether it had a ribbon braided in or rubber bands put in. They would pop out of place just like a horse tail that had been bobbed. It was so much like horse tails that at times I could easily visualize cackle burrs in it. I fought it for years, until now they have a long bob and bangs. Some had perms when being rounded up for the commencing of school this year. It sure was a relief to me.

George was digging out their basement one very hot day, for the new kitchen. Leola was about 3 1/2. She had been listening to the TV. She watched him for a while, then said, "Daddy, if you're not using Vano, you're working too hard".

The neighbors had a cute dog, Zipper. She used to come down with her ball to play with the little girls. How they loved it. They would throw the ball from north to south. Away the dog would go, into any Snapdragon and Petunia bed. Then they would all take after her to get the ball. Usually through the flowers to the east and west. After some chasing and a few less flowers, they would get the ball and heave it to the north. Away Zipper would fly. Usually into my Geraniums around the base of the house. By the time I could get the kids and dog out of them, I would have slips to grow several new plants. If it went to the east, I had a choice of two flower beds, or a row of shrubs. One was a lavender Rhododendron, which I was very peticular about. Then, just on the other side of the shrubs was a little rockery. The girls all just loved to walk on the rocks and also any flowers that happened to be in the way of their little feet. When the dog sighted a cat, it would take out after it on high. My blood pressure would go up to the danger point in notheing flat. Then kids, cat and dog would fly in all directions at the same time, with me puffing along behind them, trying to get after them all at the same time.

I sure had to be on the job all the time. When the grapes started to set, they would all have to sample them. The results were, half of them never got any larger than peas. Which reminds me of the Telephone Peas I raised last year. At first, I debated as to whether I should pull them out. Before I knew it, they were commencing to sag at the knees. Then I started staking them up. I put in stakes at each end of the rows. Put string on each side. The next time I went out, they were sagging a sorry looking lot. So I would put in sticks and every switch I sould cut out of the fruit trees or the Snpwball bush. I would tighten up all strings, and put up new strings of every kind imaginable. Still they kept growing. The battle went on for days. At last I gave up. When it came time to harvest them I had to reach higher than my head. I even had to pull some down out of the Apple tree. I simply had peas everyday. I gave some away. I put all I could into the freezing unit of my refrigerator, besides I let some go to waste.

When the apples got out of the bloom, the youngsters would start eating them, even though they weren't fit for pig feed. So the chase was on the girls. First one, then two or three others in first one tree, then another. They would pick the nicest. Later on, they would take a bite out of it and throw it out into the lawn. It doesn't seem possible that six kids can string around so much fruit, but every little apple would look as big as an ostrich egg when I would first discover it. In order to save any at all, I started picking them as soon as possibale. The riper they got, the more kids and yellow kackets swarned in. I would have to get out mighty early to get ahead of either one of them. I was so afraied of getting stung. There was apples all over the place, before they were harvested. I couldn't can all of them or give them away, so lots of them rotted. I tried to keep them raked up and tote them to the compost pile in the wheelbarroow. While I was trying to clean up the friut, the grass was up so high, I couldn't use the lawn mower. So I cut it with a hand cycle. By the time I got some of that cut, a lot more apples was down. Betweeen the children and two dogs belonging to neighbors, they had apples all over the place, which is half an acre and a wide road between.

Betty and Ida had just left. Several of us were setting around. Axel John was lounging in his pajamas and robe, as he is still ailing. George and Dora had gone to see about her mother, who is ill. There were a ocuple of foot stools and a hassock in the middle of the floor. One of the children had left her boot in the middle of the room. The children were all eating apples. Georgia came in with her hands full of apples and a knife. She was busy watchiung TV. She backed up to sit on a stool. Instead, she sat on the boot. She went kerplop on the floor. Leaping to her feet, she yelled at Helen, "what did you move the stool for?" Of course we all laughed at her misfortune. Soon she cooled off and had the silliest grin on her face.

Lucia Mae was about three years of age when Uncle Bert was in the hospital. The cousins, Johnny and Jimmy, were with the girls down by the creek. Lucia touched the electric fence, and let out a 'yipe'. She exclaimed, "a bee stung me!" Johnny said, "that wasn't a bee, it was electricity". She said, "electricity, what in hell is that?" Johnny was so tickled telling me.

December 22, 1953: Laura was baby sitting with two small children. She was reading a little story book to them. One said, "what is a Racon?" She said, "you mean Rhino?" He said, "no, I mean what is that what the baby rides in it's mothers pocket?" She said, "you mean Kangaroo". He said, "yes, what is a Rhino?" Then he laughed so hard, he fell off from the davenport. Laura was so tickled, she was still talking about it this morning.

Donnabelle Joan and Paul were always getting into my book shelves, in which I had some books that I prized quite highly. This day they wre on tlhe sofa with a book. Donanbelle Joan asked me to get her one from the shelves. I was busy looking for one I didn't care so much for. All at once Paul gave a rip to the book he had. Donnabelle Joan yelled, "grandma, Paulie is being rouogh to daddy's book". We were kind of crowded in that corner with the book case, davenport, big chair and a floor lamp. I made a wild dash to retrieve the book and didn't see the dark green foot stool until I found myself just teetering on the edge of athe stool on my heel. Down I went like a ton of bricks, landing on my sensitive knee. I had been lame in them for years. Now, all I could do was sit there, moaning and rubbing my injured knees. When the pain eased a little, I realized I couldn't raise up. After what seemed ages, I managed to struggle to my feet by exerting every ounce of strength I had in me.

All of the children are down by the creek walking across on a flimsy board. They even had Lucia, and she was very small.

We all went to a school play. Ida carrying Lucia. Dora was ahead with Leola. I had Georgia by the hand as we came up to the schoolhouse steps. A man was on the top which was six or more steps high. He leaned over to pet a dog on the steps, so we thought. The next thing we knew, he was tumbling head first down the steps, right at our feet. Ida stuck out her hand and grabbed him, which was all that saved him from a terrible fall. He had an Epileptic Fit and every one crowded around after Ida said, "can't someone give us a hand?" Soon he commenced to recover and we went on to the school play, which was very nice. The girls in the play was Donnabelle Joan, Laura, Janet and Helen. They were in some of athe drills and dances. They looked so tiny beside the other children. Helen had on a skirt and blouse. Every time she raised her arms, she would just about lose her skirt. Then she would make a wild grab for her skirt and poke in her blouse tail. I felt so sorry as it made her very uncomfortable. But she kept rigbht in the play with never a bobble or misstep.

China Pheasants and young streak acorss the frnt yard. We see them quite often. One year, the kids found some baby ducks in the creek. They used to throw them bread crumbs and they got quite tame until a neighbor discovered them. She went down and caught two of them. They got to be real tame. She used to come in the yard and call beep, beep, beep, beep. Pretty soon, here would come the ducks sailing in. The little girls felt so bad about her taking their ducks as they used to stand for hours watching the little ducks playing in the water.

One day I heard a terrible lot of ducks quacking. I ran down to the creek and there was a dog swimming after the ducks, trying to kill them. I yelled and threw everything I could lay my hands on. At last I succeeded in chasing him off before any ducks were killed.

Lucia was with the folks on a picnic. Someone cast their line and hooked Lucia in the face.

In the spring, the girls make Daisy chains and Buttercup chains. Then they got the idea of selling some, which they did. Then they sold berries, holly, beads, aprons and miniature hats.

When Donnabelle Joan wsas quite small, she had been playing around while we were at work at the barn. Suddenly Dora discovered she was gone. She looked for her then came and told us baby was gone. We were scared stiff. Axel John made a wild dash and fell off of the steps, while the rest of us ran in all directions at once. I said, "is she in bed?" "No", Dora yelled back as she ran. In a few minutes, she came back looking silly. Baby was sound asleep in bed.

Georgia was standing on top of a big ladder picking cherries. That was three years ago, 1950.

George had started to the berry fields with Donnabelle Joan. The car broke down just after they got out of sight. Donnabelle Joan came back across the field after some tools, and left the same way. After what seemed like an hour, Donna Patches, a neighbor, came around the corner leading Lucia Mae. We hadn't even missed her. We were so interested in what they were doing abnout the car.

The big quake was in 1949.

Paul said, "it sure is froggy", shading his eyes with his hand, peering around like an old sea captain. He was about three years of age.

Have you ever tried to kid yourself into thinking you wasn't so old, then have someone call you on the phone and tell you that your sisters daughter has become a grandma? When it seems only yesterday that she was just a little toddler herself.

If I ever beconme a great grandma, I don't think I will survive the shock. Just hearing it makes my breath come in short pants.

Dora went early to the hospital to be with her mother Lucia Ascenzi, who is having an operation this morning. I got the girls all off to school on time. Lucia Mae left for kindergarten about 11:45 A.M. I gave Leola her dinner, after fixing a tray for Axel John. I went to let the dog outside for Dora. Lucia tried a couple of times to get him out, but he had a nice warm place and had no intention of giving it up. So he hid and she couldn't find him. I guess he thought I was Dora coming home. Anyhow, he came cautiously up the basement steps and I gave him a sniff of a piece of bread. At the same time, getting closer to the door and before he realized it was a frame-up, he was outside and the door closed. He was far from being a happy pup. Then I came back to my house and sat down to read for a little while before doing the dishes. Leola was sitting on the floor beside me cutting pictures into the wwastepaper basket. I sort of drifted to other parts of the house. I had forgotten all about her, until I happened to go into the living room again. There she was, on the davenport sound asleep with her two big dolls all covered up so nice and warm. She was almost hanging in space, she was so close to the edge. I moved her little family to a safer place and boosted her back into a safer position. I felt a great sense of relief as she continued to snooze like a regular little angel.

Lucia is home from school. She had lunch and curled up in my big chair, sleeping like a little kitten. She has quite a case of the sniffles and the sleep will do her good.

All of the kids are hunting up dolls to take to school. They are having some kind of display. They took all of their best dolls except the antiques. Leola is playing with a doll as big as herself.

This is the day before my 27th wedding anniversary. Laura Louise graduated from grade school. She also was tiny compared to the others in her class. She wore a blue organdy dress with a low, wide collar, trimmed in white lace. She had a white velvet ribbon sash and a corsage. She came down the aisle, with another girl. They were all in two's. They were followded by the boys spaced in two's. Each girls dress was a different color. They looked real nice.

As each name was called, they stepped forward to receive their diploma and a hand shake. Everything went along just fine.

Ida worked for Kress Company. I used to save scraps of ribbon for my quilt. I got quite a lot of longer pieces. When the girls got larger, there was always a great clamor for ribbons to suit each one, and the mauling over that box of ribbons. Yet it's a crying shame.

Wal, like my pa used to say, "by jucks, you kaint tell luck of a lousy kalf! It may turn out to be a good kow, even if it was raised on faren!"

Ma sead to it that us younguns turned the hawgs into the field so they could eat the faren roots.

I reckon as how pa would be purty happy, ifen he knowed little Lalurie had won a prize namin a horse, a hundred 19 dolars or there abouts, to get a washin machine or one of those there fancy pitcher machens fer her maw. Little Laurie was sure enuf tickled ifen all that there lafin an cryin sure enuf ment eny then.

Wal, I reckon that's bout enuf of this here monky biznes, but I rekon these here girls purty smart enyhoo.

Wal this here turned out to be a case of skulldugery jist suckes bate, ifen I kan se strait.

Wal, Dora was hepin her husbin do som wurk an she went to lift a lawn swing out of the way and the thin come over rite a top a hur. Liked to hav kilt hur. Only I rekon it just didn't no how, kus she kum hom enyhoo.

Helen decided to treat some of the smaller girls to minor biscuits or dough gobs as they usually call them. She wanted some milk, so I gave her some. Then she wanted flour. I told her to get Bisquick. Instead, she took plain flour.

Later she came up and told the girls to go home and eat theirs. She said it was kind of doughy, as she didn't have any grease for the pan.

Come to find out, she took plain flour and milk, nothing else, and cooked it on an uncreased pan. They must have really been something.

If the kids live after that feed, they sure must have a strong constitution.

May 27, 1957: I got tired of creeping to get in or out of the house. I started cutting grass, vines, shrubs, anything that is green. There are vines on the back porch that can't go anyplace except on the roof or the electric wires. I will have to move it, but where? I took my trusty clippers this 5:30 A.M. and went through the shrubs like a whirling derbish. I left a lot of trash in my way. We will at least be able to squeeze through the track without scraping off a lot of skin. I got up so much steam pressure I had to stop every few minutes to cool off. Then up and at em again.

I can safely say, there will be some changes made.

It has been cool for so long. We can't stand the heat in the summer still in the winter, with the heat up to 80, still we freeze.

May 30, 1957: George and family went to the cemetery. They said they couldn't find half the graves. So Ida and I went out today, the 31st, and no wonder, it looks like they had an earthquake. It looks like the center of a construction job. It's just terriable. I can't describe the chaos that exists. Some markers are sitting in a teetering position. Not a thing to tell who some of the graves are. The ground is all plowed up as if a bulldozer had been at work there. There are big holes and cracks in some places and concrete edging ripped out and dumped into a pile. There's not a shrub or a flower left. I will bet that mor|e than one got a terrible shock when they visited the resting place of their loved ones on decoration day.

Ida and I stopped and had a nice lunch, then we went to Oregon City to put some flowers on Jacks grave. It was such a contrast. It's so pretty there. Standing by his grave, looking to the east, reminds me of pictures we see of someone walking into the great beyond. There seems to be a great cliff one would go over and into space. We seem to be looking over the tops of trees in the distance. It is really beautiful.

May 1957: Dora was walking home one day in a full skirt. Helen was watching. When Dora got home, Helen said, "if I had a swing like that, I would put it in my back yard".

June 16, 1957: A little girl gave the kids three guinea pigs and what a time they are having with them. Someone put them in the dogs bed, now they are covered with fleas. I gave them some Buhack powder and perhaps the fleas will turn off onto the kids. At least they won't be on the dumb animals.

Skipper, their dog, went calling at the apartments. Walkers shut him up and took him almost to Oregon City. Someone located the owner by his liscence. They got him back as the dog catcher arrived. So all was well for a while. Helen took him for a walk on a leash. He didn't want to come home so she picked him up. The results: he bit her hand. Not bad.

June 17, 1957: Skipper went out. Leola opened the door. The family went all over the neighborhood looking for him.

In the meantime, Mrs. Steel had told the kids they saw Walkers put him into their car. George told the boy he would give them one hour to get the dog back. Then he would call the sheriff. About 20 minutes later, here came the boy with Skipper. He said he found him over in the field, which wasn't true. Now he is gone again.

July 6, 1957: Well, after chasing kids all over the place, from sherry tree to apple tree, I gave up. They took down a swing on a cherry tree llimb. It was made of a rotten rope over a concrete wall. Georgia came wailing to me that they couldn't do anything. So I said, put your swing on a big limb of the Weeping Willow in my yard. Pretty soon she came in and said, "better not, it might break the limb". I said, "go right ahead and bust it all to pieces, for all I care". Georgia exclaimed, "oh boy!" Away they flew to tare the tree to pieces. They worked steady for about ten hours. Sunday and Monday result: the tree is reduced to a couple of big pieces and they are partly cut in two. They tied a rope to one limb. They pulled, tugged and grunted. Pretty soon, down came the limb that was a good eight inches through. next Helen was up on the top of the step ladder, sawing away with a smalll trimming saw. Soon, down came another limb. Next Georgia was sitting in a crotch of the tree, sawing away left handed. At last, whe wore it down until they could pull it off with the rope. Then they went to work on the trunk about two feet from the ground. It was forty seven inches around and the limbs at the butt cut were twenty three and a half inches. They sawed away with everything they could lay their hands on. In the operation they used a rope, step ladder, steel screw driver, wood chisel, big ball pen hammer, small hammer, keyhole saw, trimming saw, hand saw and crosscut saw. They even had Johns leather knife. It is similar to an old style food chopper, with a wide flat blade, crescent shape with a handle in the center. The results of it's use was a split handle. All I oculd do was rave and glue it back together aand hopwe it stays.

They wore the tree down and have most of it cut up and a lot of it is already burned. It was a good ten hours Georgia spent sawing and hacking at the tree. She just would not quit in spite of my telling her to lay off for a while. She had something to wreck and she sure did.

July 9, 1957: At noon, I decided to surprise the children. So I made each of us an individual meat pie. I chopped cabbage with sweet and sour dressing. Soon as they ate it, they turned into regular imps. They made so much moise I couldn't make sense to any of my TV plays. They are still acting like savages. Now a little girl friend is here to add to the din. Later, another girl arrived. They raced around the house and yard yelling like they had lost their senses. The yard was swarming with girls of all sizes.

There was a robin in the cherry tree. She had two little birds. They shouldn't be out of the nest for several days yet. At last, even the birds couldn't stand the commotion and flew out of the nest. The kids got ahold of it and put it back into the nest. It flew out again. Of all the noise, eight kids, three or more bireds, and a dog, at last I joined the holocaust and then George drifted in from space. The bird ran for cover in the hedge. I faded into the house. The big swarming mass of humanity seemed to vanish. In a few minutes George came in all thrilled. They had the birds back in the nest.

This morning, I stepped outside to survey the ruins and pick up dolls and buggies left in the yard all night. A robin let out a yell and a baby bird floundered off into the shrubs. Later, the mother robin was feeding it on the ground. As soon as the kids and dog find it this morning, i'm afraid it won't last much loonger. I guess a cat put the baby robin to sleep. Now perhaps I can recuperate.

This afternoon Georgia kept digging at her head. She said she felt like bugs on her. I took the big magnifying glass and sure enough, she had bird lice all over her. I don't think she will bother robins anymore. I had to change her clothing and scrub her head.

Well, here it is July 21, 1957 and I have been slashing and burning brush stumps until I see them in my sleep. To date, I have removed thirty-five trees and shrubs. Most of them have been there for twenty-four years and they really have settled in good.

I have a clock that has been my companion the last twenty-three years. It is a part of my existence. One day John dropped it and broke the glass which left the works loose. So at last I put a rubber band around it to keep them in place. The old clock ticked away and how Ida hated its ticking. She used to put it in the big chair and pile pillows on top of it. In the morning, she would set it back on the piano.

At last it quit. John worked on it several times and a relative, Homer Cady, tried to start it. (Wound too tight).

One day I kept at it by shaking it and at last it couldn't stand the strain and started working again. I put some tape on the back and sides to keep the works tressed up. At times, the tape loosens up and the clock stops.

The other day, Janet said the clock wouldn't run. I said "I suppose you have wound it too tight again", and told them to leave it alone. After this, I worked for hours. I would start it up and in a few minutes, it was stopped again. At last I gave a twist on the winder upper and it was just run down. I wound it up and it has been working ever since. Isn't it strange, they won't run until wound?

Well, yesterday, while trimming brush, I lost my hair comb. I looked all over the place for it. I felt my hair a lot of times. I just couldn't get used to being without it. My hair is just long enough to braid a little and tuck in at the top. It makes a good knot, and the comb helps keep in the loose ends. At last, after the girls went home, I looked in my purse, dresser, chair and all over whlere I had been working. I went to bed about 10 P.M. As I started to take down my hair, out jumped my comb. Where did it come from?

Another time I lost my finger nail scissors. I looked in the drawer where they were kept. I tore out and poked under the cushions in my chair and lounge. I looked the place over from top to bottom. Still no scissors, so I gave up. One day I looked in the drawer and there was my scissors. I have just about decided this place has an invasion of Gremlins.

George is going to start cutting down the big walnut tree today. The limbs rub on the house. Nuts are always dropping on the roof with a big bang. Lately, the limbs ride on the electric wires over the house. I am scared they will cause a short and burn the house down. Twice the girls, Georgia and Helen, have sawed limbs from the wire. One big main limb broke off in the freeze the past winter. Another libmb on the same side is cracked terrible, and now the next limb above is dying. So all limbs left alive are on one side and the top leans over the house. So the safe thing to do is cut off all limbs. If it dies, o.k.

Well it's now 3:30 P.M. George has cut all of the walnut limbs from over the house. He wants to work on his back porch today, so he will cut the tree a limb at a time.

I hear they are asking for $100.00 from each of us for improving the cemetery at Laurel.

One day when the children was quite small, Joan was left to give them lunch. She was going to make cinnamon toast. Everything went fine until the kids started to eat. They all let out yells and ran for water, coughing, crying and spitting. About that time, mother came along and gave them a sweet pickle. Joan had got Cayenne pepper instead of cinnamon.

Well I got all of the walnut trash cleaned up and burned. I also cut about half of the limbs for George to burn in his furnace. I will get the rest cut tomorrow.

Leola was up in the apple tree, clear out on the tip of the branches, after transparent apples.

July 25, 1957: George put a rope onto the top of the walnut tree and Dora and Janet pulled as George sawed. After chasing Lucia, Leola and Walters dog out of the way long enough to yell 'TIMBER', he at last cut the top off and it came down with a crash. It didn't do any damage to the hedge or roses except it broke two small limbs off. I have it all cut for wood and the rest piled to burn. I am too tired to finish up today, so I will make a fresh start on it tomorrow.

So far I have dug out between thirty-five and forty shrubs and trees. Still a lot more is left to dig out. I got the old grab hoe, and will really go to work on them. It should be easier than digging and chopping roots with the shovel. There are forty removed now.

I am filling in the corner next to the road. It should be a lot easier to cut the hedge without a step ladder. Everything is so dry and don't look like it would survive until fall rains set in.

The Messinger clan is going to have thir first get together Sunday, July 28th at the McMinnville Park. It would be nice to go to see if some of my family would be there. As it is, I don't know any of them and it would be just a confusion of strange faces to me. Every one has changed so over the years and so many have passed away, so I will just stay home.

Janet has just brought me in some more watermelon. It sure is good.

Laura is coming home tonight. Janet will go for two weeks to help grandma Ascenzi.

July 20, 1957: Helen, Georgia, Lucia and Leola was up in Multnomah, playing along. They stopped on the viaduct, leaning over the railing, spitting on cars as they went under it. All at once a wasp sailed in and lit on the back of Lucia's lap.

She didn't mind the landing, but the push for the take off is what made her dance a jig. There progress toward home was very slow and painful. The older girls carried her part of the time. At last a neighbor happened along and gave them a ride home, for which they were very thankful.

August 2, 1957: George and I had been watching wrestling on TV. I had been in bed a couple of hours when George called me and said the Alpenrose Dairy was on fire. I tried to see from the window. I took some time navigating. At last I went to the front door and the whole country was lit up. I called Helen and Lucia. Laura was in the road. We watched for a little spell and returned to bed. I guess all fire equipment from all cities was there from the sound of their shreaking warning, as they came from all directions.

Twelve cows were killed in the fire. There was between ninty and one hundred thousand dollars damage.

Fifteen years ago they had a fire at 49th and Vermont Street, which burned the dairy barns.

Joan and a friend, Amelia, spent the night with me Sunday August 4th. Joan was 21 years old. It just don't seem possible.

Ida was here in the afternoon and she had just went home. I got a phone call from Mary saying Earle is in the hospital. He had a heart attack.

Before Thanksgiving 1956, the Thompson family won a turkey for being the largest family at the Safeway Stores anniversary.

Joan had been here for dinner. She hadn't been gone long. She went for a ride with a girlfriend and her boyfriend. The details are lacking, but Joan was cut, bruised and shaken up from the car hitting a concrete bridge. As soon as the folks heard of it, they raced to the hospital in Hillsboro, only to learn she had been taken to the Martha Washington Hotel. They raced down there, only to find she had been taken to Monmouth. So they sat down and waited for her to light. A few days later, she came limping in. Then George and Dora started trying to locate Joans purse. They were all over the country. At last, they got it. I believe it was the next time she came out. She forgot the purse at our place. At last it was sent to her again by mail. She didn't have it with her yesterday. I guess it is safe at her room (we hope).

Janet went to Albany with her aunt over the weekend.

Saturday August 11, 1957: Lucia and Leola was keeping me company. I was peeling apples to can, when they kept asking all kinds of silly questions. I had gone to the little store room on the back porch, where I put all empty fruit jars. As they are filled, I put them in the basement. I was hot, tired and perturbed as no two jars were alike. Either the lid or the rubber just wouldn't work. Lucia yelled out, "grandma, a moth is eating your curtain". I simply ignored that. Pretty soon, I thought it was Lucia who yelled "grandma". So I yelled "WHAT"? with great gusto. I glanced over my shoulder. There not being room enough to turn completely around, and there stood Joan and a strange girl. I felt so silly, I could have crawled under the rug with a stovepipe hat on and still not touch the ceiling. They didn't stay long. They came back sunday. I was trying to use the sweeper attachment to clean the lamp shades. The thing refused to work. You would have thought it didn't even belong to me. I was puffing, wheezing and as horse as an old hound. Joan and the girl came bounding into the house agian. George was busy putting in an upstairs window. One of the kids called and he barked the same way with the same results. I bet the girl sure thought she had got into a den of lions.

When John, Claud and I went to see Nora in Bellevue, they didn't stay long as John had forgot his insulin. We missed the right turn to get onto Highway 99. We came out in the center of Seattle I guess. Anyhow, we were batting along, trying out the names of the streets. All at once, we heard a siren screeching off to the left, it seemed like. I tried my best to locate it. Pretty soon, a motorcycle cop pulled up beside us. He motioned for us to stop. He said we went through a red light and he chased us for seven blocks. I guess he gave Claud a fine to pay when he got home.

One day when Joan was just starting school, she was late and the principal asked her why. She said that "mama wouldn't get up and I couldn't find my pants". Guy Still was in her class and he just about blew a gasket in telling it to his step mother.

What she really couldn't find, was the lower part of her snowsuit.

August 21, 1955: The kids found a little guinea pig in the pen this morning. I don't know which is the mother.

One day I sat in my rocking chair looking into space toward S.W. Vermont, when a great bunch of leaves shattered off from one of Lillies trees. I got my spy glass to see what was causing it and about that time they reversed and flew back to the tree. Pretty soon, down they came again. It was a great flock of little birds. They just kept it up as long as I watched them. I couldn't figure out whether they got food from the ground and went to the tree to eat it.

September 10, 1957: There are two more little guinea pigs. One pure white. George says when they get a blue one they can really go into the business. Who ever heard of red, white and blue guinea pigs anyhow?

In the summertime when ma would send us ungens to skeer the hawgs out in the tater pach we had to be mighty kerful or mebby weuns would get all stung up with yeller jakits. They was feerful bad ifen ma was makin prune butter er, a cookin pears, or a makin preserves cus we never had wire kivers for our windows in them there days.

When ma was a makin fruit butter, she would let out a yelp and say gosh all merciful, I burnt mysif. Or she would say gosh amity, I got burnt.

September 12,1957: I never knew so terrible much fruit could grow in trees. I have canned, dried, jammed and jellied until I am seeing fruit in my sleep. Lots of it is going to waste. I can't take care of it or give it away.

The girls are all in school. Laura and Janet are at Woodrow Wilson Hi, Helen is at Multnomah and the rest, Georgia, Lucia and Leola are at Maplewood.

My sister, Belle Matthes, is still in the hospital. She had an operation for a tumor September, 1957.

September 14, 1957: It sure was a hot time in the old town tonight. We had a big grass fire in the horse pasture. George and the girls tried to put it out until the fire department got there. After getting directed to a home on Nevada Court instead of to 45th Street, one fireman ran across country with a chemical tank, while the fire truck went a mile around to reach the fire, which had changed it's course. It was going south instead of going west, where it would have either stopped at the creek or got our houses. Laura got circled with the fire and the fireman got her out. She came to the house for shovels and just about collapsed. We got her a wet rag to cool off with and soon she went back to the fire. Janet had her legs and feet burned some. It took about an hour to get the fire all out. The horses were scared, but no damage was done to them.

Last of September and October 1957: All of the Thompsons have taken turns with what they think is the Asian Flu. It is sweeping the country. Hundreds of children are absent from school with it. Georgia seems to be the worst off of the family. She has a Bronchial Ailment and an infected ear.

Thirsday October 3, 1957: 7:30 A.M. I got a telegram from Claud and Mary. They were coming to visit. All the kids are sick with the Asian Flu. I sent a telegram October 4th for him not to come.

Friday October 4, 1957: Just about three hours later, a car rolled in. It was them. We went to see Belle the next day. On Sunday morning, they started for home at 6:30 A.M.

Monday October 7, 1957: Helen got her arm hurt playing ball. She now has a cast on her left arm. Were not sure how bad of an injury it is. She got hurt at Multnomah school. Well it looks like Ida is really going to get married. They had a shower for her Sunday October 13, 1957. They invited me, but I had such a Bronchial conjestion I thought it best to stay home.

October 14, 1957: We are getting the finest crop of walnuts this year then before. Even the tree we cut all to pieces has wonderful nuts on the limbs we didn't get aroud to cutting. I have three trays in the stove drying and a big wire screen on top of the refrigerator. The nuts seem to be drying and good color. No mold as yet.

George goes tomorrow to have teeth extracted. (October 15, 1957 he had five taken out).

I am having a time storing my Geraniums for the winter. I got them all over the place. We had a frost October 15th. and we already have some plants hanging in the basement. Some are in pots I bring in at night. There are more young plants in the garage. I'm not sure what I can do to hold them over until spring.

I am simply amazed when I look around at all the nice things that John made and repaired for me. There simply wasn't anything he couldn't do when he was in good health. He could make and replace handles on tools, knives of any kind, he even made handles for an old straight razor. You couldn't tell if it was home made or factory made. It was so perfect. He could put new blades and backs on pocket knives that were flawless. He also made curtians for his Chevy with zenglass windows in them. I have so many nice cabinets and boxes he made with little drawers and all compartments in them.

Laura passed away May 5th of 1958 from pneumonia at the age of 67. Although she tried desperately to complete this story, it was never finished. She may be gone, but her love will continue forever. We will miss her.