To commemorate Mother's Day, I thought I would post this picture of my Grandma Neola and Grandpa Ivo. These are my dad's parents. As a child I called my Grandma "Gramma Ola". She could cook and bake just like a good farmers wife should. I remember the smell of homemade bread in her kitchen and can still taste the real butter we would spread on it that came from a pink butter dish. Grandma and Grandpa lived on a beef and dairy ranch in Northern California that was a child's wonderland. At least for me. I have so many fond memories of roaming free on that ranch with my sisters and my cousins. There was always something to explore and discover.
I remember discovering my grandmothers Beehive book of remembrance once. In it, she had a lock of her hair from when she was young. I remember feeling a very special connection with Grandma because her hair was the same auburn /brown that mine was (although hers was platinum blond as a child).
Grandma was no nonsense, but she was a loving grandma. Happy mother's day!
5 comments:
thats awesome kate, thanks for sharing! Happy mothers day!
Funny how I remember things so differently (probably becuase I was younger). I only remember the empty Dr Pepper bottles and vaguely one thanksgiving. But I do remember the wonderful fun of the cousins playing all over the ranch and the tracks.
What a great picture! I've never seen that one. I can't believe how much Grandpa looks like Ryan, but a little bit rounder in the jaw. I, too, have great memories of the property. I had this urge last night to tear up bits of wheat bread in a tall glass and pour milk over it. Grandpa used to eat that every night with a long spoon before bed. Yummy! It's just not the same with store bought bread, though. Other memories: black licorice on the table, always!; oranges, the boot scraper, branding, listening on the tracks for trains (though we were threatened never to go over there alone!)
That picture is great! It seems funny to me to hear stories about Grandma and Grandpa when they were younger and not the country folk we remember. Grandpa almost going to medical school, driving a trolly in San Fransisco, and some of the great pictures of Grandma in period fashion.
I have great memories of the ranch too. The toys and plants on the screened in back porch, the orange trees, making forts in the hay bales when they were stacked up high. Roast beef sandwiches and ice cream right before bed. the water pump, ice cold water blasted out into a tin cup Grandpa hung on a rusty nail. pigeons, cinder, boots, Missy and sugar cubes, the eucalyptus trees, monkey bones, ground squirrels, cats both dead and alive, snails and green slimy moss, green olives, cumquats, smoky ceilings, the rope swing in the barn, rides in the bucket of the old red and white international tractor, "How'd you get so perty", the creek of the wooden rocking chair and feel of the soft sheepskin hung over the back, Grandpa saying "What?" and Grandma yelling back "Oh, you heard me!". The list goes on of fond memories of the ranch and our grandparents.
Wow, Ryan, you just put my childhood into one paragraph! I'm so glad I'm not the only one that remembers the slimy green moss!
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