Country Life – Then and Now

Somebody sent Billie a e-mail last week and they’se a talking about things we don’t never hear said no more.  I hadn’t thought about sich in ages, but atter she got this we got to talkin’ about things we don’t hear nowadays. When have you here’d anybody say sumpin lack this? Quit slammin’ that screen…

It’s almost October and at this time of year the quilts need to be aired.  It’s quite a job — totin’ all those beauties to the clothesline where they’ll hang for the day.  Of course, each quilt has a story behind it. As I hang this string quilt I can look at the many pieces…

Recently a friend told of a visit from a relative and how the four-month-old baby was dressed. It seems the father was a recent graduate of Yale and a New York native, so this may explain it all.  After all, what does a Yale graduate know about clothing a youngster? This four-month-old had on jeans…

According to my old Webster’s Dictionary, barter means to traffic or trade by direct change of one commodity for another – and this was just a way of life when I was growing up. Money was hard to come by in those days and farmers would trade a day’s work for a day’s work.  This made…

Ah, the trials and tribulations of a farmer – even when he’s “retired.”  John Crumly has yet to experience retirement – true, he did leave the good-paying job he had to come to the farm, but retirement (?)  No way!  In years past John had an aunt who never acknowledged that he retired from Lockheed. …

As I quilted alone last week I had lots of time to let my mind wander and relive some old times.  It was then that I decided what I’d write about in Country Living, but I’m writing only after interviewing a number of older people in the area. For the most part, people above 70…

Should you be a regular reader you are aware that this subject has been covered in this article before and it’s highly possible that you’d rather read the telephone book than this column.  According to the old Webster’s Dictionary, a bedbug is a wingless bloodsucking homopterous insect, sometimes infesting houses and especially beds.  A call…

My how times have changed – even when we talk about cows.  When I grew up on this farm we owned one cow.  In that day and time a cow was a necessity – we depended on the bovine for our milk and butter.  We could even swap the peddler butter for whatever we needed. …