Visiting Mammy and Pappy

I went to Mammy and Pappy's with Mom Friday. I hadn't seen them in awhile. When we got there they were already working on preparing lunch. No easy sandwiches at their house. they make more for lunch than I ever make for dinner. Simplify is not in Mammy and Pappy's vocabulary. Honestly, I am glad I have already embraced the word simplify!

I went downstairs to the dairy with Mammy to get some canned tomatoes. I snapped a couple of pictures of their canned tomatoes and green beans. From their garden of course.

 

Grape jelly from their grape vines and pickles.

Mammy was peeling the broccoli stalks to saute them with onions. She saw Martha Stewart do it. I could learn a lot from them about not wasting anything. Actually, it was pretty good.

Pappy was preparing some sweet potatoes. We had leftover bean soup, corn bread, canned tomatoes, canned kraut, broccoli with cheese, broccoli stalks with onions and sweet potatoes. They were foods I would have never served together but it seems like everything tastes good at Mammy's house. They try to serve good mix so they will get their nutrition. Guess that is why they are 82 and 88. :)

 

We ate lunch and sat around and talked. Pappy told a couple of stories from when he served in the Navy during World War II. He has just started telling some of those stories in the past few years.

 

We cleaned up from lunch and I was going to try to dust a little since we'll be having Thanksgiving dinner there in less than two weeks. But it's kinda hard to get one over on Mammy. She still thinks she can keep up with her housework even though she just went through a real health scare.

 

I always love to look at all of Mammy's stuff around her house too. This ladle hangs on her back porch. It was Mammy's grandmother's (she was called Mammy) and it used to be on her back porch with a bowl of water that they drank out of. Everyone used the same ladle.

 

This larger skillet hangs next to it and it used to be Grandmother's from her early years of marriage.

I love Mammy's brick wall too!!

And then there is this. The original kitchen cabinet from the house which was built in the late 1920's. To say I love this piece of furniture would be an understatement!

 

Cool old locks.

 

 

We went upstairs because Mom wanted me to see some fire damage she found in a window casing of the antique bedroom last year while cleaning windows. The original owners' sons had started a fire in that bedroom. There was minimal damage but I didn't know the story until Friday.

This table sets in the hallway upstairs. It was also Mammy's grandmother's. I love this piece too!!

When we eating lunch Pappy mentioned he had been looking for his ship log from World War II and Mammy said she had just come across it recently. So, before we left Mammy brought it downstairs. It was on thin paper so someone needs to make a copy of it as soon as possible.

 

Quartermaster Log of USS Potawatoni.

 

Here's the coolest thing though. I took this picture because it listed Christmas Day 1945 Turkey Dinner. I thought that was neat. When I looked at my pictures the second time it was then that I noticed above Christmas Day.

 

11 December 1945 Lt. Comdr. Charles H. Stedman (Commanding Officer) died from a self inflicted gun shot wound. Lt. Charles R. White assumed command.

 

Pappy has told a very interesting story about that day. Twas not what the official ship log states. Anyway...I am looking forward to looking at the entire log when a copy is made.

 

 

We left in the afternoon and since it was such a beautiful day Mom drove through the valley. I couldn't even remember the last time we have driven through the valley. Maybe we will on our way home from Thanksgiving dinner next week.

 

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Oh yeah, Tim and I went to our second concert at the college Thursday evening. It was Brandon Heath's Blue Mountain Tour with Matt Maher. Also a bluegrass group called The Church Sisters from Danville, Virginia was touring with them. they consisted of 16 year old twin sisters Sarah and Savannah Church and their brother Seth. You know I liked their names. ;) They were great! My favorite part of the concert was at the end when Matt Maher came back out and they all sang his song "hold Us Together" and at the end Brandon Heath flipped his guitar over and it said, "Friends of Coal." Of course the crowd cheered even louder.

Next concert: Jeremy Camp on April 11th. Can't wait!