Unexpected company

Company was a part of life at The Old Farm

Neighbors might stop by to say hi. 

Strangers sometimes stopped to ask if they could

pick the daffodils that grew wild across the road. 

And sometimes relatives arrived unannounced.

Communication was not what it is now. 

Yes the Old Farmer had a phone.
But "long distance" cost $$$. 

And people used long distance pretty much only for emergencies. 

So you might get a postcard in the mail

that says we'll be there tomorrow for the weekend.
Or you might not, the cousins might just show up! 

Company was always welcomed with warmth.
Coffee? tea? Let us take your coats and bags....

The girls will sleep in together and you can have their room. 

And once in a while one of us girls would get invited

to go back from whence they came for a visit and sightseeing. 

And that would be an excuse for another visit

when The Old Farmer and the rest of the family
came to pick us up!

The BIG Eclipse

 

We are eagerly anticipating the great solar eclipse of 2017!

It is crossing the whole of mainland USA. 

Will it be clear? Will it be cloudy :  ( ?

This is a big event for children and should be a family event.

With at least one parent involved.
The children will remember it their whole lives!
I promise. 

I still rememeber a solar eclipse when I was young.
The Old Farmer and his brother were very excited

to share this event with me.

We were at Grandma's house in the garage.
The Old Farmer's brother was "smoking" glasses
to make them "safe" to view the eclipse.
Actually this technique is not recommended now! LOL

Another case of  "how did we survive the 50s" 

But the event came to pass, we all took turns looking
and it is a memory that will last forever. 

If planning to view this year 

please invest in eclipse safe glasses.
Or use a pinhole camera, quite effective. 

Put a pinhole in a
piece of paper and shine the sun 

through it onto another

smooth surface/paper. 

Adjust distance to focus.
You may want to practice

 this before the eclipse so you are ready! 

Here is a great page with time, location information.
https://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/solar/2017-august-21

Fourth of July Doings

 How did we celebrate the Fourth of July?

Picnics and parades, family and fireworks. 

Childish delight at the city park,
laying on a blanket. 

As we grew older the delight was in our own explosives! 

Playing at home. Spinners hung from the trees.
Sparklers running around the yard. 

And strings of firecrackers going off.
Or set under a tuna fish can to see it pop up! 

And The Old Farmer's inner child would come out. M-80s were played with by the adult men in the family,
the children could watch.
The Old Farmer decided to see what would happen if he put one in the old metal paper box. 

POW! It blew it go smithereens. The back blew out and the seam split open. Oops!

And not to be outdone by the adults the cousins spent the afternoon throwing
the little firecrackers into a hollow in the tree. Several made a sucessful landing. 

Later that evening smoke was seen coming from this majestic old maple tree!
Hoses were brought and the water followed where the firecrackers had been.
 In the hollow and down the inside of the tree.
The tree survived this trauma and to my best guess is still living today. 

A STRAWBERRY SOCIAL

In the old days we used to have Strawberry Socials in the season.

     No that little fellow up there wasn't invited!

The Old Farmer's Wife had a strawberry patch. 

This was a business venture. The best berries
were sorted and boxed to sell. 

The Old Farmer's Daughters were recruited to help pick.
We also ate a LOT! 

The Strawberry Social would arrive at our Grandma's church.
Dressed in our Sunday best off we would go.
There was a lot of visiting and catching up among the adults.
The children waited for the Main Course.
Strawberries and Ice Cream! 

The season passes all too fast but a thrifty housewife
would have many berries put up in the freezer
and many jars of strawberry jam on the pantry shelves. 

For the new homemakers who wish to store good homegrown food out there, 

freezing berries is about the easiest thing.
Wash the berries (do this in small batches as they easily become waterlogged!),

 cut off the leaves, slice in halves or thinner slices, I like them thinner.
More surface exposed to sugar, more syrup forms and more delicious! 

Put in your freezer containers and sprinkle on a good amount of sugar! 

I eyeball it, but say a quart container or ziplock freezer bag about 1/2 cup.
More if the berries are tart. You don't have to use sugar, but quite honestly
they keep their color and flavor better with sugar. 

Frozen sugared berries are great for yogurt smoothies!