Good Day

We woke up to about an inch of snow today. I had one Stampin' Up meeting canceled last night because of the snow and Trudy didn't want to come over here to go to Amy Boston's Stampin' Up party. After my after breakfast nap, the snow was all gone, so I called Trudy and said, "lets go!" She met me at the church at 1:45 PM and we went to Amy's. Amy thought she was only going to have 3 people but I think I counted 8 or 9 people. It was a nice party. Trudy and I got to make a little French fry container with Easter grass in it and a chocolate egg. They also made other containers for stuff that would be for children. I was the oldest person there! I guess I'll have to go to the Senior to be in my age group! I bought a scalloped hole punch, a brown ink pad, and some colored card stock paper. I have plenty of paper, but the colors don't match the Stampin' Up colors. We have changed our clocks to Day Light Savings Time already. No use getting up at 2:00 AM to do it! (Hardy har har!). LOL.

family craziness

Mother

I found mother's old Brenau College scrapbook. It had pictures and programs saved from concerts, etc. There were some report slips, not cards, that told she was a B, C+ and D student (average). She took piano. She had to miss a date because she was 30min. late from church. She got called down for talking to boys over the balcony! Just your average juvenile delinquent! Brenau college was(or is) in Gainsville, GA. It probably was an all girls college. I couldn't find the Girls Book I was talking about. I have carefully saved all of this genealogy stuff and now I can't find it. In the Girl's book, mom had patterns and material she had dresses made of.(oh no...not one of them dangling thingies again...of!) Back in the early 20th century, 1920 on, girls would have a dance card and the boys would come by and sign the card so that they would be sure to get a dance with that girl. In the Brenau scrapbook, it has some University of Alabama things in it too. She had the invitation of join the Delta Delta Delta sorority, which she did. That was a big sorority on campus. I wanted to join the same sorority but they didn't invite me to join. A couple of my high school friends joined. It seemed the more money you contributed the better it was for you to get in. I was crushed though, and didn't join the other sorority that had invited me. If I had it to do over, I would have joined. The degree I got required me to spend a lot of time at the music building practicing the piano so not being in a sorority was probably the best thing. In the time period my parents grew up, children were to be seen and not heard. I guess that's why there was no overt outpouring of affection in our lives. I knew my parents loved me, after all, they threw me a piece of meat every now and then! But there wasn't a lot of hugging and saying "I love you" going on. I had to make a conscious effort to break that cycle because I wanted my children to know I loved them.

My Mother

My mother, Sadie Ruth Palmer White, was born Nov. 23, 1905, the last of five children. Her parents were well to do for the times. Back then, young ladies didn't cruse around looking for action. They had parties at each other's houses. There would be a center piece and the paper would report on who was there and the decorations, etc. That's what is in her Girl's Book. Maybe I should get it out, read it, and then write about it. Maybe that's what I should do with my time, huh? Anyway, mom had lots of friends and was popular with everyone. She graduated from high school at 16 so she spent the first year of college at Branoue (I don't know how to spell it, it sounds like brenow) somewhere in Georgia. She finished up at the University of Alabama in 1925, the same year as my father did. They didn't know each other then. She majored in English and wrote poetry. She had one poem printed in the literary journal at school. After college, she taught one year of school in New York City. Her oldest brother, Bob and his wife lived there, so I imagine she stayed with them in a big brownstone house. After she came back to Jasper, AL, she met dad. He was a civil engineer and was working in a small town called Gorgus. He and the other boys would go to Jasper (a larger town than Gorgus) to date. They got married in Dec. 27, 1934. Dad worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) surveying the land that was going to be covered by the water the dams would dam up. The TVA was created to tame the Tennessee river and make it navigable. River traffic stopped at Sheffield because of the shoals in the river. It was called Muscle Shoals (should have been mussel) and TVA dredged the river and made it passable to the MO river, which flows into the Ohio river,which flows into the Mississippi river. Anyway, got a little distracted there, my parents moved around as the job demanded. My brother was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1937 and I was born in Knoxville, Tenn. in 1943. When the job was finished, my mother, brother and I moved to Jasper, AL to live with my grandmother while dad found a house for us in Tuscumbia, where he was born. It was after the War (11) and he couldn't find a house in Tuscumbia so he got the home in Sheffield that you know. Mother was a stay at home mom. It was unusual for a woman to work outside the home back then. After I left for the U of A, mom got together with her friends to play bridge and she worked at the hospital as a Pink Lady.
(i wasn't even little den -- and couldn't even spell masssachewsetts; i had no cluu what one was; if you had told me then, in the spirit world, that I would one day use an apple to type a letter -- right, get out of here; oh, oh, car coming -- got to go; oh, yeh, close your blog when you're finished... bye; the phantom.) Dad's been on the blog, can you tell? to be continued:

Early Post

I need to post early today for I'm going to the Temple. Bro. Geer is in California getting his back operated on so I guess was will be riding in cars. Karen will come get me about 3:45PM.

I got my nails done this morning. They are painted a natural color which I like. I made three cards today. I have been feeling strange lately. I think it's because I don't have enough to do. But then again, I've been this way before and felt good. I get to feeling better as the day goes along. Nothing to alert the Dr. about but it's not a nice feeling. How's that for jumping around in my writing!

Sat. I have the Stampin' Up meeting where we make four cards in two hours, and at 2:00PM Trudy will pick me up to go to Amy Boston's house for a Stampin' Up party! I'll be all partied out.

Those notes on floor care must be for old, worn floors. My first house had wood floors that were so worn that there was no shine on them. I don' t remember if I tried to wax them or not. I was young and had Frankie back then so I doubt I put any wax or anything else on them. The next house we had had carpet in all of the rooms, even the bathrooms! It was shag carpet you could cut to size, but with three young children, the bathrooms were not a good place for carpet. I still think you should wash the sheets and towels in hot water. Everything else gets cold water.

Your Great-grandmother-maternal side

Your great-grandmother, Joanna Gertrude Jackson was born in Eclectic, Elmore Co., AL , 7 June 1871. She married Robert Henry White Palmer (later dropped the White), 13 Nov. 1892 probably in Eclectic. She was his second wife, I guess his first wife died. Back then, people didn't get divorced. I don't know anything about her before she married and very little after she married. They had five children, my mother being the last. The first child Robert Thomas was born 19 May 1895. The second, Mary Edna, 11 April 1897. The third, Jesse Dawson, 6 Dec. 1898. The fourth, Joseph Henry, 25 April 1902, and fifth, Sadie Ruth, 23 Nov 1905. There was eight years difference between the first girl, Mary Edna, and my mother, your grandmother, Sadie Ruth ( later dropped the "Sadie"). I know you want more personal information, but I don't have it. When we lived with her when I was 2=21/2 , I remember her faintly. I don't ever remember her hugging me or fussing over me. Then again neither did my mother and father. My grandfather Palmer owned 2-3 coal mines, a couple of furniture stores and started the bank in Jasper. They were well off for the times. I imagine grandmother Palmer had lots of nice things besides the china. I remember my mother complaining that her brothers wives got "stuff" by just admiring it and Mrs. Palmer gave it to them. I guess there wasn't much left by the time my mother got old enough to want things from her mother's home. I still have the cut glass punch bowl and stand. Remember, I took it to Oxford, Mississippi, when Frankie had some party at his teacher's house? It is really pretty, but we don't live our lives like that anymore. I still have my mother's Girl's Book , that tells how she lived when she grew up. I waiting for someone to be interested in it so I can tell them about it. Don't wait too long, because I not getting any younger, hardy-har-har!

Wood Floors

Just a thought: you can clean wood floors with tea. Brew 1 qt. of boiling water with 1 or 2 tea bags. Let it come to room temperature. Wring out a soft cloth to just damp and wash floor, keeping the rag clean. Do not overwet floor. This will clean the floor and cover many imperfections. Buff with a soft cloth if desired. The tannic acid is a good cleaner for the wood. For scratches in the wood, wax crayons found at the hardware store ( on in the coloring box) will work. Just work the crayon (the right color) into the scratch, then heat with a hair dryer. This should melt the wax and make the scratch unnoticeable. From "How The Queen Cleans Everything" (and I'm not the queen this time!)