HALLOWEEN

Halloween was a great holiday when growing up.  We looked forward to dressing up and going trick or treating. 

Most of our costumes consisted of wearing a store bought mask.  We did not have any other type of dress up.  It often was cold, so the costume would have been covered by our coats anyway.  One year I did get to buy an entire costume.  That was a special year.  I don't have a clue how old I was, but it had to be in the 7-10 year old age group.  I don't think we went for trick or treating beyond those ages.

I got a Cinderella costume.  I had a mask that was a girl who had "yellow" hair.  The mask had a crown painted on it, and the costume was of some sort of pink slick material.  It was similar to the one shown here.  I thought it the most beautiful costume ever.  I played with it often after Halloween and probably wore it out totally.


We would take a brown paper grocery bag as our container to receive candy, cookies, popcorn balls, gum, and an occasional orange or apple (which we hated by the way).

My mom would take my brothers and me into Farwell. We would try to get her to take to the "rich" side of town.  Those people usually gave out great candy--- full size candy bars.  We would go up and down a few streets then go home.  We looked at our stash and would trade with each other if we had something we didn't like.

Our school would always have a class Halloween party as well.  If we wore costumes, I don't remember. Halloween was a party in which we would play several games and have cupcakes, popcorn balls, cookies or other snacks.  One year one of the kid's moms came dressed as a witch.

Times were simple.  It didn't take much for us to feel that the occasion was special and fun. Truly good memories.  

THE CELLAR

The cellar was a place that served several functions.  It was a place to go in case of tornadoes, a place to store potatoes, canned vegetables, and junk in general.  

Our cellar was a dirt cellar.  It had cinder block steps and a dirt floor.  The walls were of concrete.  If you have ever been to the Embry farm, you would spot the cellar right away. The structure is located on the east side of the house.  It has a tall part which is made of stucco, and this is where the door is located.  On the ground is a large area that is concrete, which looks like the top of a roof buried in the dirt. The steps down into the cellar are cinder blocks, and the floor and walls are concrete. 

Inside the cellar there were many shelves on one wall. This was the area where we stored all the canned vegetables.  We had shelves filled with green beans, pinto beans, pickles, relish, corn, blackeyed peas, jellies, beets, tomatoes, tomato juice, grape juice,  peaches, cherries, and other types of fruits and vegetables. The types of vegetables and fruits varied from year to year.  Corn and blackeyed peas were vegetables that were frozen instead of canned after we got a large freezer.   

Some shelves served as storage space for things that we did not have room for in the house.  I remember my mom had a stenographer's typewriter in the cellar. I was always fascinated by that machine. We stored the Christmas tree in the cellar and old baby toys and things my mom did not want to give away.  We had a toy rocking horse in the cellar for years.  We always kept candles and matches there as well.  The cellar had electricity, but there was always a chance the electricity would go out during a storm, so we were prepared for that situation.  The matches were wrapped in foil to keep the dry. 

I both liked and hated going to the cellar.  I did not like the damp musty odor, or the hot, humid feeling of the air.  There were always wasps nests built in the top part.  As soon as the outside door was opened, the wasps would swarm out.  I remember my mom getting stung once in a while. My mom would often tell me to go to the cellar and get a jar of vegetables or fruit.  I dreaded this if it were during the summer months.  I hated those wasps.  

I can remember going to the cellar maybe on two different occasions during a storm.  This was usually after dark when one could not see the storms coming in.  We would head to the cellar when the weather stations would warn of an impending storm with possible tornadoes.  One time my dad went down with us, and the other time he would not go.  He could not get down the steps very well, so he said he would just take his chances.  We usually had a transistor radio with us during these storms so that we could listen for updates on storms.  

Some of the things we did as kids was to play in the cellar.  Even though I was not a big fan of it, I would go down with my brothers.  We would light the candles and make black marks on the walls with the smoke from the candles.  Some of these play times turned into torturous experiences for me. 

On one occasion, my brothers got me to go down in the cellar, and then they raced up the steps and shut and locked the door.  They turned off the electricity in the brooder house which was a building next to the cellar.  I was in complete darkness.  I was so scared I could not even go back down the steps and find a candle to light.  I pounded on the door and yelled, but they would not let me out. After a while they unlocked the door, but never told me.  I probably could have gotten out much sooner if I had only checked the door again.  

Once in a while, our cousins would be at our house and we would go down and play.  It was a lot more fun when they were there and not nearly as scary.  They could make playing in the cellar a ghostly experience if they wished, but it was fun being scared when it was just a game. 

As far as the outer structure, we loved running up the slanted part of the tallest part of the cellar.  I do not know what we found so fascinating or fun about doing that, but it was a challenge.  Once we got down the technique, it was easy to run up that slant and get to the top.  Once there, it was just fun to sit. I suppose it was the fact that we thought we were  high off the ground that made it fun. 

A more recent story about the cellar is when Brian took Daniel and Mikali down to see what was in the cellar.  Mikali and Daniel were fairly young and so were already scared.  Somehow Daniel got bumped and tumbled down the steps.  Fortunately, Daniel was fine. They did not want to go down into the cellar with "Uncle Brian" again. Daniel's story was always, "Uncle Brian pushed me down the steps."

MAKING YEAST DONUTS

One of my favorite things to make (or for my mom to make) was yeast donuts.  It was such a delicious treat.  My mom did not make these often, but when she did we thoroughly enjoyed them.

Yeast donuts are a bit different and more involved to make than cake donuts.  It takes quite a bit more time as the dough has to rise, then rise again after cutting out the donuts.  I loved helping cut out donuts.  I loved taking out the little holes that would come from each cut.  Some of those we put back into the dough to roll again for more donuts, but we got to save some to fry and make donut holes.

It seems that donut making came on a Saturday.  I guess my mom had more time on Saturdays to bake or make special treats.  One of the funny things I remember is that it seemed a certain song would be on the radio each time we made donuts.  My mom listened to a radio station out of Muleshoe, TX, called KMUL ( pronounced K MULE).  She listened to that station so that she could get updates on local news and people. Anyway, the song that would come on while making donuts was a song called "Big Bad John".

After cutting out the donuts and letting them rise, we would fry them in a deep fryer.  Then after they were fried and cooled a bit, we would glaze them.  We made a glaze from powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk.  We took a fork, put it through the hole, dipped the donut in the glaze, then placed the fork on the edge of the bowl so that the handle of the fork was on the table.  This let the glaze drip from the donut back into the bowl.  Then came the fun part of eating them.  SOOOOO Delicious!

One time when we made donuts, I got heartburn, but I didn't know what was my problem.  I would get this hurting/burning sensation in my chest.  I thought I was just hungry.  So I would fix my problem by eating another donut.  That did the trick, but only temporarily.  So back to the donut stash to eat another, with the same results.  Finally, my mom began to question me. I was probably eating way too many donuts, and my intake had to be curtailed.  My mom figured out I was experiencing heartburn.  She gave me some Tums, which stopped my heartburn. That was the beginning of my heartburn woes. I  have had heartburn issues ever since that day.  Sad to say that such a delicious treat started my ailment.  Oh well. I still eat yeast donuts and love them.

DOGS ON THE EMBRY FARM

What is a farm without a dog, right?  Growing up, I do not remember a time that we did not have a dog and several cats.  Dogs were not only pets, but they helped keep the mice under control, killed snakes, ran off skunks and other pests, and were a fantastic warning system.  They barked to let us know if there were visitors or strangers coming onto the property.  As a kid, I doubt if  I ever thought of the "usefulness" of our dogs.  They were simply pets that I enjoyed having around. They were good companions and an ear for when things went wrong.  They never tired or complained about listening to one's problems.

I had to evoke the memory of my oldest brother, Eldon, to help me remember some of the dogs we had.  I remember most of them, but some I do not recall having at all.  In fact, I will  just copy over what he wrote to me.  If we happen to have the same memories, I will not repeat those stories.

Queenie.   I thought my mom and dad had a dog by this name.  Eldon said the name sounded familiar. He did not remember consciously, but his subconscious remembered. This dog would have been one they had before I was born.

Spot-- I do not remember this dog at all.
From Eldon's memories  Spot was a dog that mama and daddy had when they first moved here in 1954. He was white with black spots. I just barely remember this dog. He was probably a little over knee high. I do not know what kind of dog he was. I do not know what happened to him. 

Ringie - a rat terrier.  Ringie was a tan color with a white ring around his neck.  This is why we called him Ringie.  He was a good watch dog.  When Ringie ate his food, we all knew to leave him alone. He would bite if you bothered him while he was eating.  One time a little Mexican boy came down to our house.  He was teasing Ringie and was bitten on the face.  
From Eldon's memories  This dog was shot one Sunday afternoon. We took him to the vet. He could not be saved. He was put to sleep. We had him 2 or 3 years. Daddy got him at the gin. He really liked catching mice..

Whiskers - mutt  Whiskers was the dog I remember the best as a kid.  We had him for 10 years.  He was black with a white chin. That is why we called him Whiskers.  He was one of the best dogs we ever had.  He was smart and went with us kids everywhere.  He was an excellent guard dog. I do not recall him ever trying to bite us or anyone else.  In fact, my dad would often tell others that drove into our yard, "Don't worry.  He won't bite you."  I know most did not believe my dad because Whiskers sounded very vicious.
Whiskers did not like fireworks.  On the 4th of July, we had to put him in the garage or he would run off and not come back for a day or two.  I can remember Whiskers shaking when the fireworks went off.
He was a great mouser.  He would chase rabbits and kill those as well.
Whiskers went with us everywhere.  He would jump into the back of our pick up truck and go to the field with us when we hoed crops or changed water.  Sometimes if we took off before he jumped in the pick up truck bed, he would run the entire way, up to 2 miles.  He would never follow us when we went into town. I do not know how he knew whether we were going to the field or to town.
Whiskers learned to get into the garage by himself.  We did not have a garage door opener back then. You had to manually get out and go lift up the door.  We had a rope on the handle of the door. Whiskers learned to grab the rope by his teeth and pull and get the door up enough that he could get inside.
One time Whiskers went to the field and the renter of our farm was plowing the crops with a plow called a rotary hoe.  Somehow Whiskers got in the way and was run over by the plow.  He ran all the way home which was 2 miles.  I went out in the garage and started to pet him. I was patting him on the back, and he began to yelp loudly.  Later on we found out what happened.  He was sore for quite a while but fully recovered.
I remember one time when we were hoeing cotton, Whiskers was with us; and he went down a turn row where we had hauled off a dead pig.  Whiskers wallowed all over that dead carcass and smelled just awful for days and days.  I totally stayed away from Whiskers until that smell was completely gone.  
Eldon's memories: Daddy got this dog at the gin probably in 1963 or 1964. Weldon named him whiskers. He got in a coyote trap and nearly lost one of his hind legs. He walked on 3 legs afterward. Billy Sides ran over him in the fall of 1974. Whiskers was almost blind and deaf, which is the reason he was run over. Billy Sides felt bad about running over him. 

Bear  - We got this dog when he was a puppy.  I have no idea what kind of dog he was.  We did not keep him long.  He was not a very smart dog.  One Sunday while we were gone to church, he killed several chickens.  You cannot generally cure a dog who kills chickens.  So we got rid of him.
Eldon's memories -  I think we had this dog for a very brief time when I was in High School. He was very dumb.

King - German Shepherd   This dog was white.  I know he had been close to a fire at some point in his life.  He was afraid of any type of fire.  When we would burn trash, he would run to the opposite side of the house.  
From Eldon: Daddy and I got this dog at the animal shelter in Clovis. I cannot remember what happened to him. We did not have this dog long.

Cinnamon - Chow I don't remember much about this dog.  The dogs listed from this point on, are dogs that were on the Embry Farm, but after I left home.  I do think Eldon is correct in that he did run over this dog accidentally.
From Eldon:    I do not remember much about this dog. I think he was run over by me.  

Rusty - Chow - No memories other than the name. Similar dog to Cinnamon.
Eldon:      This is another chow dog we had. I backed over him and killed him going to the watermelon patch in September 1994..

Herman  - Blue Heeler  Very vague memory of this dog. Obviously I was still at home since Eldon has him as being there in 1977.    
Eldon:  Daddy and I got this dog in Clovis in May 1977. He was dumb. I ran over him in August 1977 a few months after we got him.

Teddy Bear - German Shepherd.  Absolutely no memory of this dog.  
Eldon:    Daddy and I got this dog in May of 1980 at a man’s house over on West Grand Street in Clovis. We was a fraidy cat. He was scared of the thunder. He ran off a few times but came back. I think we took him to the animal shelter in Clovis because he was dumb and scared of everything.

Ruby - mutt   This was the dog that my kids probably remember well and liked.  He seemed to be a good dog and was especially good with kids.    
Eldon:   Weldon brought us this dog from Vashti Fowler. She lived by herself over by Oklahoma Lane crossroads. The dog came to Vashti’s house. She thought he was a girl dog and called him Ruby. Vashti did not want to keep Ruby so Weldon brought the dog to us. The time was probably 1985- 1987. I always called him Ruby. In November 1995 when daddy was in the rest home in Clovis, one of the Mexicans ,Chino, driving the tractor cotton stripper ran over him when leaving in his car. He denied running over him, but I could tell by looking at him that he was the one who ran over him. He had a guilty look on his face. Frank Galvan lied for him.

Schnauzer - a schnauzer   I always liked this dog.  He was smart and Mema was able to train him to do several tricks.
From Eldon: Mama got this dog I think in Clovis. The woman who had him probably had been mean to him by beating him with newspapers. One could not raise his hand without him cowing to the ground bracing to be hit. He got much better later, but never fully recovered from his ill treatment. Mama got his dog in April 1997. In March of 2008 when daddy was in the rest home in Farwell he got sick, and started vomiting and would not eat. Mama took him to the vet in Muleshoe. It was too late for him. I think the disease was something called Porvo. The vet put him to sleep. Mama felt bad that she had not taken schnauzer to the vet when she first noticed him feeling bad. Schnauzer was terrified by lightning and thunder. He would often yelp loudly when the thunder cracked. I think he could tell a few seconds before lightning struck close by. He could feel a sensation in his body just before lightning would strike.  

Tuffy - Schnauzer   This dog is the present dog on the Embry Farm.  He is a dog that all my grandkids love.  When they have been at Mema's house all want to go see and pet Tuffy.  He is the only dog that I have ever seen be let in the house.  This is because Tuffy has become Eldon's dog. He was a great comfort and companion to Eldon after Papa passed away.  He goes everywhere with Eldon.  He has a different bark for everything he wants---to go for a drive, to let you know someone is there in the yard or coming down the road, to get in, to get something to eat, etc.  I remember when Tuffy was a puppy you could barely walk because he was always trying to chew the toes on your feet.
Eldon:  Mama and daddy got Tuffy in Lubbock in June 2008 when daddy went to the VA. Mama picked him out of the litter because he was the only one that was moving around. The other puppies were sleeping, but not Tuffy. He was a very hyper puppy which has been very characteristic of him all of his life. He is not as hyper as he used to be. Tuffy is on his 3^rd life. On May 8^th 2010 which was on a Saturday I was putting new chemical allocators in my chemical boxes on my planter. I threw the old ones on the ground. Tuffy ate the rubber off of them. There was Temik residue in the rubber. I took him to the vet late Saturday afternoon located on MLK and West 7^th St. in Clovis. He survived the weekend. Daddy and I drove from BSA in Amarillo Monday afternoon May 10th to get him. I think what really saved him was mama gave Tuffy some milk to drink which made him vomit and purge out some of the poison or he would have died. May 10th was when Mama had her back surgery in Amarillo at BSA hospital. In just 4 months almost to the day Daddy died. The vet’s office on West 7^th is only about a mile and half from the cemetery. The pet care where Tuffy gets his haircut is located almost across the street from the vet’s office. I take Tuffy from Pet Care and go to the cemetery where Tuffy can use the bathroom. He usually needs to go badly when we go to the cemetery. In February 2013 Tuffy had  FCE hit him. I took him to the vet in Muelshoe after 10:30pm. He was x-rayed- no scratches or broken bones. He was treated for poisoning and antifreeze poisoning. He was paralyzed on his left side. He stayed at the vet in Muleshoe for a week. We took him to a vetinary hospital in LBB. In 2 weeks he could barely walk and had no bladder or bowel control. In 2 days after he came home he could walk and had full bladder and bowel control. About 3 weeks ago he had an allergy shot. He has been doing good since.

I have never had a dog since I left home and got married.  There are those who prefer to not to have pets, and that is fine.  I am just glad I had the opportunity to have dogs as pets growing up.  There is nothing so fun and neat as having a good dog.

CHRISTMAS PAST

In thinking of other childhood memories, I began to think about holidays, and of course, Christmas came to mind.

Christmas was a very exciting holiday because we knew we would get Christmas presents, and especially those that would come from Santa Claus.  Decorating the tree, putting up other Christmas decorations,  making Christmas candy, making and icing cookies, and other goodies was so fun.  We loved putting up the colorful lights, though we only had one string that went on the outside of our front door.  We did have a string of lights to go on the tree. The lights were the big lights, none of these small blinking white or colored lights of today.


We had several different types of trees through the years.  We had real fresh trees, green artificial, and for several years an aluminum tree.



For stockings, we just put up an old sock of my dad's.  In the stocking we usually got an apple, orange, nuts, and candy.

Some of the toys I got from Santa are pictured below.  Some of the pictures are just similar to what I had, but some are the exact thing, which I will designate as such.


Kissy Doll - Exact.   If you pulled both arms of the doll together, the lips on the doll would make a kissing motion, and there was a "pop" for the kissing sound.  My mom still has this doll.  She kept it for all these years.
                                                         


    Doll crib- Similar.  Mine was pink. The side of the crib
    would actually go up and down.  A piece of hard  board was the bottom of                                             the bed. There was no mattress. You had to use a blanket for                                                                   a mattress.

My doll buggy was very similar, but of course mine was pink.
One year I got a metal toy washer.  You could put water in the washer tub and the clothes would actually wash.  There was a tube that was used to drain the water into a sink or bathtub. Another gift received was an ironing board and iron..  The iron was electric and actually got hot.  Maybe toys were more dangerous back then.

(The washer pictured is similar.  Mine was pink also.  The iron and ironing board were pretty much exact) Also pink.  I seemed to have liked the color pink or "Santa" did.  

I had these exact dishes and this exact dish cabinet.  I am pretty sure my girls remember these.  I may still have one or 2 in my toy box for the grandkids to play with.  My girls got to play with the dish cabinet for sure.

There were many other presents from Santa over the years.  I had other dolls, doll clothes, dishes, a bike, clothes, jewelry, etc.  The ones shown here were some of my favorite.

FAMILY VACATION TO COLORADO

Living on a farm, one does not take many vacations, especially in the summer time.  So when we did get to go on a vacation, it was a special event.  Sometimes we got to leave the farm for a day or two, but one year we got to go on a much longer vacation.  I am not certain how long we were gone, but I am guessing about a week.  This was the trip to Colorado and Wyoming. To the best of my memory, I was about 10 years old.

I do not remember where we spent our first night.  It could have been in New Mexico, but it could have been in Canon City or Colorado Springs.  I know we went to the Royal Gorge close to Canon City.  This was an impressive place.  I don't believe I had ever seen a canyon that deep.  There was a wooden bridge that cars could drive over.  We did not drive across the bridge, but we did get out and and look down at the gorge from the bridge.  It was kind of a scary feeling especially since I did not and still don't like heights.  We also went to the state prison in Canon City.  Why we did this I do not have a clue.  It does seem a very odd place to visit.  They actually had tours to go through the prison. I can't remember if my dad went in with us or not.  He must have as I do recall my dad having trouble getting through the security gate.  He had crutches and those caused the alarm to go off.  The crutches were wooden, but they had metal screws.  We saw prisoners in their cells, saw some of the inmates making license plates (at least that is my memory )  They were making something.  I am pretty sure we saw either a gas chamber or electric chair. We might have seen both.  If nothing else, we learned from our visit that this was a place we did not want to end up.

Another thing we did on this vacation was to go to Seven Falls.  This park is in Colorado Springs.  I barely remember the falls, but I do remember all the steps we went up.  It seemed they would never end.  I never made it to the top, but my brothers did.  I must have been a wimp.  I am sure my grandkids could make it, and they are not even 10 years old.  When we started down the steps, my legs would shake.

On another day we rode the Pikes Peak railroad cog up to the top of the Peak.  My dad did not go, just my mom and us kids. There were so many of the activities that we did that he could not participate in because of his being on crutches.  He did not seem to mind.  He would find people to talk to and visit with them.  When we got on the train at the bottom, it was very hot.  By the time we reached the top it was sleeting.  Because of the clouds we could not see anything from the Peak.  I was very glad to get back down to the warm sunshine.

I do not know if we went to Garden of the Gods or not.  Another place we might have gone by was the Broadmoor Hotel.  These were both places my mom had gone to visit when she went on her Senior trip after graduating high school.  I am sure she would have wanted to see these places again.  If we did go to these areas, we probably just drove by without stopping.

The next place we visited was Denver.  We went to the Capitol Building.  I guess my parents wanted us to see the historic sites, plus this was free.  We went inside and looked around. I do not think we got to go up to the dome.  I don't remember anything else we did in Denver.  From there we went to Wyoming.

Our next stop was Cheyenne, the capital of Wyoming.  We were going to go see the Capitol Building there, but it was already closed.  I do not think we missed a thing.  Once you have seen one capitol building, you have pretty much seen them all.  I remember staying in a motel in Cheyenne that had a kitchen.  I suppose that we had stayed in motels the entire way that had kitchens as that would have been the cheaper way to eat.  The motel was managed by a Japanese couple, and there was a garden. The plants were some I did not recognize.  Why I remember this piece of trivia, I've no idea.

I am pretty sure after we spent the night in Wyoming, we made our way back home.

My mom took photos of our vacation, and if I could look at them, likely I would have a much better recollection of what actually took place.  It was a fun trip, and I was thankful we got to visit Colorado.  I never dreamed that I would one day live in the city we had visited on vacation so long ago.

THE GARDEN

When growing up, we always had a summer garden.  I cannot remember a summer that we did not have a garden.  It was source of food for us for during the winter months.  My parents always had a garden when they were growing up and guess they continued the tradition.  My mom still has a garden each summer, though my brother does all the planting and watering, and most of the gathering now.

 At first the garden was located just north of our house.  Later it was moved to the east side of the driveway on the north side of our house.  Then it was located east of the barn, and later moved to various places in the field east and south of the house.

Each spring we would have to prepare the soil.  At first this was done with a shovel. I remember my mom and Eldon spading, and I am sure Weldon did some though I cannot remember it.  I never did as I was too little and could not get the shovel all the way into the ground. Then we got a rototiller which was much faster than spading.  I loved the way the fresh tilled dirt smelled and loved the way the soil felt, soft and moist.

Next rows had to be made.  Eldon and Weldon did most of this, though my dad did his fare share even with having to wear crutches.  Next we got out all the seeds.  At first I usually just walked with bare feet on top of the seeds in the top of the rows.  That was an easy way to get the seeds pressed down into the dirt.  Later I got to drop in the seeds and cover them.  Eldon always loved to play in the water, so he was usually the one that took care of getting the garden watered.  At first we used a garden hose, then when the garden was moved to the field, Eldon used the irrigation water. My mom and dad would also water the garden when needed.

We all had to pull and hoe weeds and gather the ripe produce.  We all had to take part in snapping beans, shelling peas, shucking and silking corn, gathering cucumbers, squash, okra, tomatoes, and melons.  There is nothing like the taste of fresh vegetables and we looked forward to the first crops every year.

After I got married and had kids, we had a garden in a few places we lived.  The best gardens were in Reserve and Bloomfield, New Mexico.  Our kids seemed to enjoy having a garden as much as I did, especially planting the seeds.  I don't think hoeing and pulling weeds were favorite tasks, nor at times did they care to gather the vegetables. As the girls got older, they actually liked to help weed the garden, to gather ripe veggies, and to can or freeze the produce.  Ethan was never a fan of the garden activities, but he did enjoy partaking of some of the fresh vegetables.

Some of the vegetables we grew were corn, blackeyed peas, green beans, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, green chilies, jalapenos, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, beets, okra, squash, and pumpkin.  Along with the vegetables, the girls liked to plant flowers and bulbs.

I am hoping that some day I will again have a place and an opportunity to have a garden.  

GOING TO WORK WITH MY DAD

Due to the physical disability that my dad had which was a fusing of the joints, he could not longer do the farming.  He had to rent the farm out, and so took other jobs to bring in more income.  One of those jobs was working at a cotton gin keeping books.  The gin was called Clays Corner Gin, which was where the gin was located.  Once in a while, usually around the Thanksgiving holiday, I would get to go and spend the day at the gin with my dad. I looked forward to going and was excited to "help"  him with different jobs in the office.



My first task was to be my dad's eyes. He was able to still drive, a 3-speed on the column no less, which I found amazing in later years.  At the time, I did not think much of it.  We would get to the highway, and he would ask me if anyone was coming.  If he were by himself, he would just point the pickup toward the east and then look in the rear view mirror to see if anyone was coming from the west.  There were two other stop signs on the way to the gin, Again, I would be asked if there were any cars coming.

Once we got to the gin, our first job was to go in and make coffee.  Then we would take a broom and sweep the concrete floors.  There were three rooms to sweep, a main office, a smaller office which was my dad's, and a bathroom.  To keep the dust down, there was some sort of saw dust that we would sprinkle on the floors,  Then we would take the broom and clean up the place.

After this, my dad usually had some sort of bookkeeping duties. I never really understood what he did.  I loved the adding machine, and some time during the course of the day, he would let me play with it.  My dad's fingers would fly on the 10 key machine. I was truly in awe of how he never looked at the keys and entered numbers.



There were cards that were attached to a wire that went on the cotton trailers to identify who the cotton belonged to.  Those cards would eventually be wired to the cotton bale.



Sometimes we would sort those and some other type of cards, matching numbers.  There was a scale to weigh the cotton trailers, and my dad would write weights in  a book or ledger.  The trailer was weighed with the cotton on it,and then again when the trailer was empty to see how much the cotton actually weighed.



Sometimes we counted the change, which was kept in an old muffin tin.  Each hole was used for separating quarters, dimes, nickles, and pennies.  If there was enough change, we would put the coins into coin wrappers.  If the coke machine was low on sodas, we would put the more into the machine.

At lunch time, we would get out the lunch pail.  It was an old metal pail that was gray and dented. Sometimes we took sandwiches, and sometimes we had Thanksgiving leftovers.  I guess we did not worry about food poisoning or warming the food.  There was not a refrigerator that I can remember nor a way to warm up food.  We sat out our meal and then my dad would let me get a dime from the muffin tin and go get a "coke".  That was the term for all soda's in West Texas.



After lunch, I usually just had to find things to keep entertained.  I am not sure what all I did, but I kept busy.  I think there was scratch paper to draw on, I could go outside and wonder around, and farmers would come in and talk to my dad.  I often listened.  The farmers all wanted to buy me a soft drink.  There was one occasion that several bought me a soda, and I think I was not very hungry for lunch.  My dad was not aware of how many cokes I had drank.  Fortunately some of the bottles were 8 oz bottles, I did not get that much.



Another thing I liked to do was get the sugar cubes and suck on them.  My dad was pretty careful to not let me have too many of those.  There were also raw peanuts in a big bag.  I could shell and eat some of those too, but not too many, or it would cause a stomach ache.

Sometimes the gin office would get super smoky.  Almost every farmer smoked cigarettes in that time era.  It would get so smoky that you could barely see people.  At those times, I would go outside and get some fresh air.

In the afternoons, when it got really quiet, I would get so sleepy and would lay down on a couch they had in the main office and take a nap.

I remember the gin manager was a man by the name of Mr. Scott.  He had a wooden leg.  He would often take me and set me on his lap and talk to me.  His wooden leg always felt odd. That leg was hard and stiff.

Quitting time was 5:00.  I was usually ready to leave and go home.  I had done all I could think of to do, and was tired and bored by that time.


I love all the memories I have of going to the gin with my dad.  Those were special days.

THE SWING SET

One of our favorite things to do as a child was to swing on the swing set.  My mom and dad got the set when my oldest brother was a toddler.  It was set up close to the front door, (on the south side of the house) then eventually moved away from the house on the south side of the cellar.  Then it was moved to under the big maple tree on the north side of the house.  That is where it is now located. Yes, the very same one.  The swings have been changed, and the teeter totter is now a plastic one, but the frame is the very same one.

There were only two metal swings and a metal teeter totter.  If there was ever a slide connected to it, I do not remember it.  The swings were a lime green color.  I don't know what color the teeter totter was originally because all I can remember is the faded gray color and the paint being worn off.

I spent hours on the swing set.  This was before we had to work in the fields.  I would sing and swing for hours.  I am sure I made up many a song.

I remember one accident with the teeter totter.  I was standing on the ground and pushing the teeter totter as high as I could get it to go.  It came back and somehow I missed catching it.  It hit me square in the eyebrow.  I did not have to have stitches, but I still have a little scar. Another thing you had to be careful about was where you put your hands on the teeter totter.  You could not put them on the horizontal bars. If you did, and you were to swing really high, those two bars would come together and smash your fingers.  We all did that on occasion.

Often my brothers and I would swing together.  We made up a game of swinging and jumping.  We would swing as high as we could and then see who could jump farther.  We would take a stick and mark where our heels hit the dirt.  Then we would attempt to jump farther than that mark.

Another thing we did was to swing and look at the clouds and try to find different formations somewhat similar to the ones pictured here. We would watch the cloud formations change from one thing to another.  We would watch the thunderstorms come in and watch the lightning storms in the distance.


The metal bar on the A-frame was a great place to sit and to swing from like monkey bars.  We could only do that for a short time because we got too tall, and our feet would touch the ground, preventing us from hanging from the bar.

My children used the swing set when they were young.  The swing set at that time was by the big maple tree on the north side of the house.  I am sure they had their own games they played while swinging. Seems they tried to swing high enough to touch a tree branch of the maple with their feet.

The swing set is still in that location, but the big maple tree is gone.  It got so old and the branches began to die.  Now, my grandchildren play on that same old swing set.  For three generations, that swing set has been loved and has provided many hours of enjoyment.

MEMORIES OF EASTER

             Holidays were fun times, and I eagerly anticipated them.  Easter was among the ones I liked best.  One of the reasons was because it was a spring holiday.  By the time Easter rolled around, I was ready for warm weather, not to say that Easter was always that warm, picture-perfect day.  Many Easter Sunday's were cold, windy, and might be one with rain or even snow.  I cannot remember an Easter that had snow, but there could have been one. 
            Being out of school was another reason to like any holiday.  At Easter, we would get out early on Wednesday and be off Thursday and Friday.  
             Another reason for liking Easter was that it was a holiday that most got new Easter outfits.  Mostly girls got new attire, but boys often would get new shoes or a tie.  I don't remember if my brothers got new clothes or shoes, but I know that my mom and I did.  We would get a new dress, shoes, gloves, and hats.  This tradition ended as I got older, but it was fun as a little girl. 
              Each Easter Sunday, we would go to my grandparents house.  I don't remember going to the Embry grandparents, but always to the Engelking side.  We would have a big dinner that was usually turkey, dressing, ham, homemade rolls, many side dishes, and desserts.  My cousins Debbie and Davey usually were there as well.  My grandmother would set up a kid's table.  She would decorate the table.  One year I remember her making a centerpiece that we could eat.  The grass was green dyed flaked coconut.  On this "grass" was a big chocolate bunny in the middle and then various little type of candies spread around on the grass.  There were chocolate eggs, chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies, and jelly beans.  
               After we ate, we would hide Easter eggs.  I think my grandmother provided all the hard boiled dyed eggs.  We brought out Easter baskets and one of the adults would go hide the eggs in the yard or in the rye field close to the house.  The ones in the rye field were very difficult to find and some would not be found until the rye was cut or several months later.  PEE_U!  Those eggs had to be rotten.
               Another thing we would do is go to an Easter egg hunt that was close to the gin where my dad worked, at Clays Corner.  There were people from all over the area who would come.  They had the hunt divided up into age groups.  The eggs they had there were these yucky candy eggs of all colors wrapped in cellophane wrappers.  We rarely to never ate those things, but would take them home and hide them over and over for our own egg hunts. 

 One year I was way in the back of the pack.  By the time I got to the area where the eggs were hidden, there were none left.  I did not get one single egg that year.  My cousins and brothers thought that hilarious. I on the other hand was very disappointed and cried.  Why I should cry over not getting candy eggs that I did not like, I do not know. It was just the fact I did not get any eggs.  

              Our Easter egg baskets were made of straw.  They had green plastic type grass and we had a few Easter animals like bunnies, chickens, or ducks in the basket.  I remember ours being more like the basket on the right, more oval shaped.  
                We had this bunny that was somewhat like cardboard, but I think it was made of paper mache.  Mine was pink.  
              My Grandma Ike usually gave us our own candy, a big hollow chocolate bunny, jelly beans,  chocolate eggs, and chocolate covered marshmallows. 










          Another favorite Easter activity was dying eggs.  My mom would boil at least 6 eggs for each of us 3 kids. Most of the time we had to take 6 eggs to school for our school Easter egg hunt. She would take the hot water used for boiling the eggs and put in a coffee cup along with vinegar and a dye tablet.  There were 6 main colors in the kit.  Then we would dye the eggs and put on an old rag to dry.  The only other decoration in the kit was a paraffin stick (wax) that you could write or make designs on the egg before placing in the dye.  Where the wax was, no color or dye would show and you would  see what was written or drawn.
        There was not a lot of emphasis on the resurrection of Jesus, which I now find very odd since that is the reason to really celebrate Easter.  I am not sure why.  It was somewhat like Christmas, and was not really considered a religious holiday.  I do not really know why this was.  I am glad that I now celebrate Easter as the day of the resurrection of Jesus, which means I will be resurrected and live with Him forever in heaven.    

GIRL SCOUTS

     Recently Maddy was signed up or Girl Scouts.  This brought back memories of when I was in scouts.  
     
     I started out as a Brownie. They did not have younger scout groups then.  Brownies were the youngest group.  I believe they have Daisy Scouts now.  I found the different age groups and their designations in Wikipedia.

"In 1965 the age structure was rearranged to Brownies (ages 7 and 8, or 2nd and 3rd grades), Juniors (ages 9 through 11, or 4th through 6th grades), Cadettes (ages 11 through 14, or 7th through 9th grades), and Seniors (ages 14 through 18, or 10th through 12th grades). 
     




         I might have been in Brownies one year.  Then I moved up to Juniors.  Each group had their own uniform.  They seem quite dorky to me now.  I had first 2 uniforms on the left.  Yes, go ahead and laugh.  I am.  haha 

    Unfortunately, I did not have a great scout leader.  That is probably the reason I did not stay in Girl Scouts. I never did earn very many badges.  I cannot even tell you which badges I earned. I am going to assume I got one for cooking.  Other than that?  Who knows.
    
      There are not a lot of things that I remember doing in scouts. I do remember trying to learn to knit.  That was a frustration for sure.  The other activity I remember doing was going on a camp out.  
    
       We went to some ranch close to Friona, TX.  There was an old place that seemed to be a bunk house.  There was a kitchen of sorts.  I know there was a windmill that was pumping water into a stock tank. If there were bathrooms, I can't remember.  We may have had to go to an outhouse.  There was an older group of scouts there as well.  Seems they fixed shish-ka-bobs for their dinner.  I've no idea what we ate. Smores were made at the campfire later in the evening.  
   
       Another thing we did in Girl Scouts was to sell Girl Scout Cookies.  I hated selling, so this was not a fun thing for me.  The cookies they had then and that I remember were: Mint Cookies, Butter Flavored Cookies, Fudge Cream Sandwiches,  and Coconut Macaroons. I always loved the Mint Cookies best. 
   
       I think if I had had a better scout leader, I might have stayed in scouts and enjoyed it more.  

HOEING CROPS

  Hoeing crops was a huge part of my growing up years.  I started when I was about 10 years old and ended about age 20.  Every summer we hoed various crops--cotton, maize (milo), corn, peanuts, and castor beans, We mostly hoed weeds in cotton, corn, and maize fields.
    Early in the morning, around 7:00, while it was still cool, we would go to the field and start our day.  The rows were usually 1/2 mile long.  Each "round" was all the way up and back down the row, which would be 1 mile.  How many rounds a day we made depended on how many weeds there were. It was always nice to be able to take 2 - 4 rows at a time and get across the field quickly.  That rarely happened.
    We hoed all kind of weeds.  The main ones I remember are what we called careless weeds, white weeds, iron weeds, devil claws, tumbleweed, grass burrs, goatheads, and crab grass.
Below are pictures of each weed.

Tumbleweed

Tumbleweeds dry up and then blow away scattering their seeds.


white weed


Goathead


Crab grass


Grass burr


Devil's Claw  These weeds were very sticky and STUNK!!


Devil's Claw made a nasty seed.


Careless Weed


Iron Weed
I do not know the real name of this weed.  I
never found a picture of it on the internet.

















    The cotton is where we would usually get terrible white weed patches.  The weeds were very tough and dulled a hoe quickly. Hoeing them did not kill them, but actually multiplied them as they came back from the roots.  Repeated hoeing and plowing would eventually get rid of them.
     Iron weeds and careless weeds could get extremely tall.  One year we hoed some maize.  The weeds were as tall as the maize which was about waist high.  My brothers used shovels most of the time.  I had to use a hoe, but they would get the really big ones for me. If we could we would pull the weeds up by the roots.  That was easier than hoeing the tough stems.  **
      One year some of the ground in the field got missed being sprayed with weed killer.  This was before GPS.  So all kinds of grass came up in the maize.  It was so thick you could barely see the crop.  Eldon and I hoed all morning and maybe got half way through the field, 1/4 mile.  I am not sure, but we may have quit and hired some hoe hands to finish that job.
     Weldon was the only smart one.  He would file his hoe every few rounds. I didn't know how and guess Eldon didn't care.  He was strong enough it didn't matter.  My dad would file our hoes every morning and and lunch time.
      After every round, we would stop and get some water and rest for a few minutes.  Eldon never was very tired and urged us to get going quicker than I liked.  If it was really hot, we tried to sit in the shade of the pickup.  There were no trees.  Sometimes my mom would bring us a coke that we had put in the freezer.  That icy cold slushy drink tasted so good on a hot afternoon.
      Our day usually ended around 4:30 or 5:00.  Sometimes we would go back after supper if it was especially nice or if we were trying to finish a field.
       Sometimes I look back and wonder how we hoed all day long and in the heat.  It was not easy.  I think it made us stronger, healthier, and more appreciative of the money we got paid.  Hard earned money was not spent on just anything.  My dad never tolerated being lazy and not working hard.  He did not want us to stand around in the field leaning on our hoe handles.  We were urged to take breaks, but the lesson to be learned was "An honest day’s pay for a hard day’s work".


**  ( I think Holly, Cindy, Tammy, and Ethan will remember using a weed whip on these kinds of weeds in the church parking lot at Bloomfield.  The weeds were at least waist high or taller.  It took several days, maybe weeks to knock out those weeds.)

FARM CHORES

     When we were growing up,.my brothers and I each had our own farm chores.  We had various animals on the farm.  We mostly had pigs and chickens.  Sometimes we had some sheep and calves, and I had the rabbits for a short time..
     My brothers took care of the pigs and chickens and other animals.  My job was to gather the eggs, clean them, and put them in egg cartons. My mom often sold the eggs to the store or to individuals.  I can barely remember my mom selling eggs by the gross.  That is 12 doz.  We had a big box that held the eggs.  To clean the eggs we had an old pan and put water and soap in and washed and dried them. I don't know if that was such a good idea now that I know that egg shells are permeable.
      Feeding and watering the pigs and chickens was done twice a day, and gathering the eggs was done in the evenings.  My brothers got up early in the mornings before breakfast to do their chores and then again when we got home from school or in the evenings.
     I really did not mind gathering the eggs except when there was a setting hen. The hens would not get off the next and you had to pull them out.  I had seen my mom do this in the past and every once in a while would get pecked.  I did NOT want to get pecked.  Sometimes I would take a stick and try to poke them enough to make them get out of the nest.  We used old paint cans to put the eggs in. Sometimes we would get 2 full buckets of eggs.  Other times we would get only a hand full.  One very cold winter day, I remember Weldon went to gather the eggs.  The hens did not lay well in the winter time. He got 2 eggs that day and accidentally dropped one.
The nests looked somewhat like the cages pictured, but they had straw in them.. Once in a while I would help my dad pull out all the old dirty wheat straw and put in fresh straw.


If a chicken wanted to set, which meant they wanted to sit on their eggs until they hatched, we would take the hen and put it in a homemade box.  The box was square, maybe about 2 feet tall.  There were boards all around the edges.  There was no bottom.  It just sat on the dirt.  The top had chicken wire. There was a wooden hinged lid that we could raise so we could put the chickens in and take them out easily.   I can remember sometimes putting the chickens in the cages we used for the rabbits.  After being in the cage a few days, we would put the hen back with the other hens.
    Sometimes I would have to help clean out the chicken house.  That was one stinky dusty job.  I really hated doing that.  Most of the time my brothers did it, but there were times when they were busy with other farm jobs, so it was up to me to help my dad.  We would take a grain shovel and scrape the cement floor and then scoop the poop into a wheel barrow.  Then we would take that and dump it somewhere.
    In the summer if my brothers were too busy, I would go with my dad to go cut iron weeds to feed the hogs or chickens.  We would take the little Falcon pick up and use a weed whip (an Oklahoma golf club as my dad called it) and cut the weeds.  Then I would take a pitch fork and load them into the back of the pick up truck.  Then my dad would drive the pick up to the hog lot or chicken yard and we would toss them over the fence.  The chickens and hogs really loved those green weeds.
   Once in a while I had to go feed and water the chickens and hogs.  My dad would usually come out to help me. We fed the chickens rolled milo and something called chicken mash that helped them to lay eggs. We gave them oyster shells to make the shells on the eggs harder so they did not crack so easily.   I carried a 5 gallon bucket of water from the watering tank to the chicken yard and poured it into the watering trough.  

The watering trough was made of heavy iron.  The one pictured is a trough that is similar, but the watering trough we had for the chickens had a pipe down the center of the trough. It was not as long as this one either.

When we fed the pigs, we had to put feed into the hog feeder which was in the shed part of the barn.

The feeder looked a little bit like this one.  You put grain in the top and it came out the bottom.  We put in rolled milo and something called pig supplement.  It was a green power type feed.  Then we would take a long stick or hoe handle and mix it all together.  I hated having to put feed in the hog troughs if the pigs were big.  They would rush at you and try to get the feed before you could even pour it out into the trough.  So I would take the bucket with the feed and go outside the barn, climb a fence, and then run to the trough and pour out the feed before the pigs knew what had happened. The pigs were accustomed to my brothers coming directly through the barn door and to the hog lot trough. I was a lot smaller and I did not want to get trampled by the pigs.  
      Some of the other chores we had to do were unloading the feed bags into the barn.  I usually just put the 50 lb bag on the edge of the pickup truck.  Then my older brothers would grab the sacks and line them up in the barn.  We had to hoe the garden, pick vegetables, pick fruit, and help with the canning or freezing. We also butchered chickens, which was discussed in a previous post.
      When we got older we started going to the field and hoeing cotton, maize, or corn.  My brothers irrigated the crops and my job was to carry the tubes and throw them into the rows that were going to be watered. That was when we had ditch irrigation.  I got to help set tubes once in a while.  I could set the 1 inch tubes, but couldn't do the 2 inch tubes very well. Later we used gated irrigation pipe, and I would help carry the pipe and put it together. Sometimes I just drove the pick up and let them load the pipe on the pipe racks.
     I don't remember a lot about feeding the sheep or calves.  I do know we had to be careful of how much milo we fed them or they would bloat.  I loved the smell of cotton seed hulls that we would give the calves.  They smelled kind of sweet.  The calves also got alfalfa hay, which was a nice smell to me.
    Growing up on a farm was an interesting life.  There was always something to do, and it was good to be in the country.  It was often hard work and not fun, but the things we learned from it were good. We learned responsibility, good work ethics, and a general knowledge of farm life.  I really do have fond memories of growing up on the farm.
 

RAISING CHICKENS ON THE FARM - PART II

     The obvious reason to raise chickens is to get the fresh eggs, but also for meat to eat.  We killed our roosters for this purpose.  When it was rooster killing time, it took several days or maybe weeks to complete the job.  We generally would kill about 9 - 12 per day, if there were enough roosters big enough to butcher.  We did not want to get them too small, or there would not be much meat.
     When it came the day to butcher, my mom would send us kids to the chicken yard to catch at least three.  We did not usually kill more than three at a time.  We took the hook, which was pictured in the previous post.  After we had caught the designated three we took them outside the pen, and my mom would wring their necks.  It sounds really gruesome, but I can tell you that my mom was an expert, and those chickens never really knew what had happened.  After the heads were off, the chickens would run around the barn yard for a bit.  This was quite odd looking to see a chicken with no head running around.  When the chickens finally stopped running and fell to the ground, we would go gather them up.
    The next phase was to place the entire chicken into a pail of hot boiling water.  We had an old laundry detergent bucket that we used.  It looked like the one pictured.
After plunging the chicken into the hot water, we would then pluck off all he feathers.  They were put in the barrel or cage where we burned trash.  After all the feathers were off, then the birds were placed over an open flame to singe the remaining feathers and pin feathers. This was a stinky affair.

  The next step was to scrape the chicken all over and wash off the singed feathers.  Now the chicken was ready to be cut into pieces or left whole for baking.  We butchered chickens outside on a picnic table.  It was too messy a job to do indoors, though that is how we started.  Once we got the picnic table, most gardening and butchering jobs were done in the great outdoors.
   After I was a few years older, I got to cut the feet off the chicken before my mom would take out the intestines, craw, liver, heart, and gizzard.
    Once this was done, it was time to cut the chicken into pieces, unless we were leaving it whole for baking.  Eventually I got to cut the wings, legs, (which I would then cut into a drumstick and a thigh), wishbone, breasts pieces, neck, and back.  The back contained the lungs, which I got to pull out.  I also got to cut open the gizzard and clean that. I do not know why I thought that would be fun, but I did. It was interesting, but stinky and gross.  Below is a picture of a cleaned gizzard. I never ate the gizzard, but my brother liked them.

     After we got all the chickens cut up, we would divide the pieces into bags and freeze.  Often we would fry a chicken for our lunch or supper that day.  Nothing tastes better than fresh, fried, grown-on-the-farm chicken.
     All the intestines, and other unusable parts were dropped into the bucket we had used for scalding the chickens.  That was taken to the hog pen, where it was devoured by the pigs.
     Then it was time to start the process all over again.  These days could be very tiring for my mom as she did most of the work.  We kids tried to help, but couldn't do what she could.  My brother, Weldon, decided he would like to try his hand at wringing a chicken's neck.  It was really a disaster, and my mom had to finish the job.  I always felt sorry for that one particular rooster.