A Pictorial Walk Through My Life

July 13 Me---then and now


I did not grow up in a digital age, so I don't have many pictures of myself when I was young. And the ones I do have are ones that I've scanned, so the resolution is really bad. When I went to look for pictures on my computer, I was surprised to find a couple that I had scanned but had forgotten about.  Also, several of them are photos of photos.

This first one is me when I was around three years old. My dad owned a photography studio, and he was always taking pictures of me. This pair of photos was actually on a poster that my mother put together for my 50th birthday. So you can see a couple of other photos tacked to the board.

Now, we jump to when I was going on 11. My father was in charge of the annual Corpus Christi New Year's Day Swim. I was an honorary contestant in the beauty pageant and got to hang out with the older contestants. My swim suit was trimmed with rabbit fur and my photo went in the newspaper. My 15-minute claim to fame.

SBC 7/1 Eco-friendly Things I do

I'm so happy to have become a part of this blog challenge in one respect---I've discovered that young moms are carrying on the tradition in which I raised my family. As a "Baby Boomer", I was raised in a time that was considered relatively prosperous. I can't say that that was the case for my family, and because of that, I actually learned a lot about living economically.

My grandmother saved all the bacon grease (lard) and once a year made lye soap in a big tub out behind the house. I have just faint memories of it, but the tub was huge, set over a fire, and the soap was stirred with what seemed like a broom handle. Of course, I was young and small, so everything probably seemed bigger to me then. Our washer was a wringer type, and we rolled it over to the kitchen faucet to hook it up. There was a compartment for washing and a compartment for rinsing. In between the two was a wringer that you operated by hand. I can't find a picture of one, but you've probably seen pictures. Of course, all the clothes were dried on the clothesline.

When I was looking for a photo, I was stunned to find numerous posts on how to hang your clothes on a line. I thought everyone knew how, because I grew up doing it. I didn't realize you had to be taught.

Love in Rural Kansas

When was the last time you attended a wedding on a farm? What's that, you haven't? You should try it some time.

My husband, son and I drove to eastern Kansas from central New Mexico to attend my nephew's wedding. My brother's oldest son, who just happens to be a few months younger than my daughter, was marrying his sweetheart. The wedding was being held at the bride's family farm.

As you can see, this is a working farm, complete with a red barn. They grow wheat and soybeans. Coming from arid New Mexico, I was impressed with the lush Kansas fields. I can just imagine those golden heads of wheat waving in the summer breezes. What a romantic I am. It is very labor intensive to run a farm, and from what I hear there is little in the way of summer breezes.