Harold Dean on the scene

March 10, 1933 - I got part of my order from Montgomery's today.  Ray came after me.  We stopped out to Ola's.  They have a little boy, born March 7.  They named him Harold Dean.  I went to lodge tonite and am on the next lunch committee.  Cold tonite.
March 11, 1933 - Cleaned my clothes today.  Got a library book for school this evening and also two others to read.  Mom cut out my new dress that I got from Montgomery's.  Ray cracked black walnuts for our ice cream this Friday.
March 12, 1933 - We went up to Uncle Hans' to dinner, a farewell for Emelia and Art.  A lot of the snow thawed today.  Mom and I had to walk up three hills going from Uncle Hans' to Walkers.  Ray has decided to go home with Emelia and Art.  They leave this week sometime.

I know I am heavy on the Winside history lately, but I couldn't resist sharing 1907.  A little funny, this one:

     January 10, George Gabler is moving to town in the Ed. Lucas house.
     February 14, Since the performance of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde the bravest of our women will not go down the cellar or cave after potatoes after dark.
     February 21, B. Ramsey and Sons sold out to Gaebler Bros. their livery stable.
     February 25, Wm. Kallstrom started to work in town as a carpenter.
     March 7, George Lewis returned home from Independence, Iowa with a bride.  His bride was former Miss Frances Hovey.
     March 14, C. E. Benshoof bought out the I. D. Brugger implement buisness.
     March 29, Bump Needham had to postpone his wedding day on account of sickness.
     April 1, G. A. Mittelstadt and family moved to Winside, taking over the lumber yard formerly run by A. C. Goltz.  Tom Prince bought the Peavy Elevator for $4,500, possession being given on May 1.  T. A. Strong will continue to manage the elevator.
     June 24, At the annual school meeting the board added the 11th grade, incorporated as a high school and will in the future be composed of six members instead of three.
    August 15, A. H. Carter sold his store to R. H. Morrow.
     September 5, two traveling men from Hartington hired an auto livery to bring them to Winside.  The trip was made in two hours and ten minutes.
     November 29, the new water works engine was tried out today.

I am not sure of the routes available in 1907, but now the shortest mileage between Hartington and Winside is 35 miles.

The actors in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde must have been something to behold!

More running around

"September 22, 1992:  Greta, Nancy and I went to Dale's place of work.  He gave us a real tour of the place.  Also saw where Mary had worked and Nancy's working place.  Some more shopping.  Left Lincoln about 3:00.  Stopped in Wahoo for parsley, apples and carrots from Jenny and at the Warehouse for a few items.  Home by 6:00.  Howard had painted back steps.
September 23, 1992:  Put three apple pies and one apple crisp in freezer -- also sacks of parsley.  In evening to a meeting in auditorium about new garbage collection."

Geesh!  Grandma gets back from a four-day whirlwind trip of southeastern Nebraska and the first day home she put together three pies plus more and then goes to a meeting in the evening?  Nicely done.

I wonder what Grandpa did all those days by himself, besides painting the steps.  It is weird to me to think of him rattling around the house all alone.  I don't think he minded, it is just an odd thought for me.  Maybe he stayed outside a lot, taking the outsides off of black walnuts for instance.  Pretty sure he is doing that in the photo as opposed to just happening to be standing there.  The piles of husks and the blackened gloves give it away.

Thanksgiving and Sunday recipe

"November 22, 1990:  Tied a comforter for Lynn and Dale's Christmas present.
November 24, 1990:  Nancy came in evening.
November 25, 1990:  Family gathering for Thanksgiving at Greta's.  All present except Lynn -- had to go to her sister's."

I've not taken a family poll, but I think I like Thanksgiving family gatherings better than even Christmas gatherings; not that I am knocking Christmas.  Too much mental planning goes on around Christmas for me whereas Thanksgiving is just "what dish do I bring?" and "where do we show up?"  The weather is usually kind to us and everyone is just happy (okay, thankful) to be together and the conversation is always good and it is just plain nice.  I am not able to put this in to words very well, but I just like Thanksgiving.  And then there was the one year we went to Grandmother's in Lincoln for Thanksgiving.  And we were super thankful that year -- we got to hear all the details on how Dale had recently shot himself with a nail gun and lived to tell the (somewhat comical) story.

Here's a recipe that I got from the Winside cookbook.  It is one of Norma B.'s but around my work, it is known as Mary's Famous Banana Bread, or something like that.  It is always well received and is just yummy if I do say so myself.  I believe I told Norma once upon a time that I had commandeered her recipe but she didn't mind.

Banana Bread

1 T. vinegar
Approximately 1 c. milk
2 c. white sugar
½ c. margarine (can be melted)
3 ripe bananas, mashed
3 eggs
Pinch of salt
1½ t. soda
3 c. flour
½ c. nuts (optional)

Put vinegar in a measuring cup and then fill with milk to the 3/4-cup mark. Set aside. Beat sugar and margarine together; add bananas and mix well. Add eggs and stir until mixed. Sift together dry ingredients and combine with banana mixture. Add milk/vinegar and mix well. Stir in nuts, if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes. Makes 2-3 regular sized loaves.

The photos are from November 1994 and I am guessing they were taken at Thanksgiving dinner.  Close enough anyway.  I had to post both since I didn't want to pick one over the other.  The kids were kinda wild that day.  Mitch's foot is up in the air in the photo with Grandma, but Grandpa is holding it down in the other picture.

Appendectomy

"November 12 and 13, 1990:  Quilted at church.
November 14, 1990:  Ladies Aid meeting
November 16, 1990:  Pinochle at Laura J.'s.
November 21, 1990:  Helen had emergency surgery -- an appendectomy."

Good heavens.  I know Grandma wasn't making this stuff up, but once again here is something I don't remember.  Was I so self-absorbed with the upcoming birth of my little babe that I blocked out everything else?  I am guessing my lack of memory is maybe a good thing; that Aunt Helen had an uneventful surgery and recovery.  Certainly I would have some memory if that was not so.  I hope I sent her a card or something.

Since I don't have a lot to work with here, I will go to the back of this particular journal of Grandma's for some black walnut information.  This page has "1999" at the top and "Howard's record of black walnuts" and then the following list.  I am assuming then that all of these walnuts were given out during that year.  I don't know that they were all cracked that year, but I know Grandpa had oodles of black walnuts to crack so I guess it is possible.  Here's the list:

Greta - 1 pint
Jean - 1 pint
Myrtle - 1 pint
Jenny - 1 quart
Tom - 1 quart
Wilva - 1 pint
Duane T. - 1 pint
Randy J. - 1 pint
Arlene R. - 1 pint
Herb J. - 1 quart
Marcella S. - 1 1/2 pint
Dwight O. - 1 1/2 pint
Greta - 1 pint
Hazel (Wahoo) - 1 pint
Gaylord - 1 1/2 pint
Claire B. - 1 quart
Greta - 1 quart
Duane T. - 1 quart
Barb L. - 1 1/2 pint
Lynn - 1 quart
Helen H. - 1 pint
Mary - 1 pint
Jenny - 1 pint

My quick count gives 32 pints.  Egads!  I don't know what a pint of shelled black walnuts weighs, but I know they are fairly pricey per pound.  I am guessing Grandpa didn't take a dime for the walnuts, even those given to people outside the family.  I wonder if Jean was in town to get hers or if they were mailed up to her.

I have no particular reason for this photo.  It is of Lloyd, Mom and Ronnie back when none of them probably gave a hoot about black walnuts.

Here we go!

From 1989: "Howard fell Dec. 23 and hurt his back.  He finally went to the doctor Dec. 28 -- muscles bruised and strained, but no cracked ribs.  He took some powerful pain pills."

No date on this entry, but at the top of this page was "1990" so I am inferring the 1989 since she is writing about December.  My grandfather (Howard) would have just turned 82 when she wrote this.  He was very fit for a man his age and it is not outside the realm of possibility that he fell either chopping wood or going to and from the Honda House to crack black walnuts.  Of course, he could have just slipped and fell. 

The "Honda House" was a small outbuilding on my grandparents' place where my uncle used to keep his motorcycle....a Honda -- bet you saw that coming.  I don't know what that half of the building was previously used for, but everyone called the other half the cob shed.  There were plenty of kid-attractive treasures in the cob shed, but more in the Honda House.  Over time, and long after the Honda was gone, the Honda House was essentially Grandpa's mancave, long before the word was coined.  It eventually came to hold a radio, refrigerator, wood burning stove, an intercom so Grandma wouldn't have to holler at him to come in for meals, and an adopted stray cat.  More on the Honda House and the fun I had as a kid there later.