Sunday Farmhouse Memories

Sometimes it is bittersweet, isn't it

to remember the days when 

people in our lives celebrated

special days with us?

The family unit I knew as a child 

is all gone now.

A father, a mother and one younger brother.

We celebrated 17 years of Sundays  together 

before I left home. 

17 years out of a lifetime isn't much but

 0h! the memories created then..

My parents were not religious people

but they were believers.
I grew up right next to a Catholic church
but never attended there.
This was taken from the road in front of our house
before the road was paved..

I don't remember my father ever 
going to a church service.

My mother took us kids sporadically over the years.

When I was a young teen I 
started going on my own

with some cousins.

A little country church with a marvelous pastor,

Melvin Shultz.

His wife, Thelma, had the voice of an angel 
and I loved

to sit as close to her as I could on a 

Sunday morning..

My father always pared the farm work down

to a bare minimum on all 
Holidays and every Sunday,

doing only the chores that were necessary to 

get by for the day.

My Grandfather, dressed in his Sunday suit,
 would stand here by the
road on a Sunday morning to greet people
on their way home from church.
He lived with us for about 5 years
until I was 6 or so.
I remember when my father planted
the elms on the left hand side
to give some shade to the front yard.
They were mere saplings then.

The big barns are long gone now.
The house burned to the ground 15 years ago or so.

The shed that you see in the picture above 
(that is hidden behind the trees)
is the only building that remains 
of the original farm buildings.
I remember when my Father and two neighbors
built that shed for wood, storage and butchering.

Going the other way, down the hill,
the road makes a sharp curve then leads down 
 to my Aunt Bessie's house.
She, too, is gone these many years.
 I spent a lot of time in the woods
that grew along the road..

Sweet, sweet memories this morning.

Memories of coffee percolating 
on the kitchen counter-

Watching the sun rise and flood the East facing kitchen with light.

Bacon sizzling in the frying pan-

the sharp crack of eggs against the side of the pan-

Biscuits with home-churned butter and honey

from the bees from the hives 
down past the little pond.

Sunday Memories-
Sharp-
Strong-
Stored Forever-

And----just so you don't think I have gone
all smarmy  and  sappy on you
here is what I plan to serve MyHero 
for breakfast this morning if he
doesn't shape up. 
It will go great with a side of
poisonberries boysenberries.

.You can order your very own 
SKULL EGG SHAPER here..

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

We are on our way out of town 
for a cousin's wedding.
I will share details when we get home.