Furiously embroidering

Mon., May 11, 1936 - Clear and warm today.  Herbert Temme and Howard weren't at school.  I don't suppose they'll come until Friday.  Embroidered after supper on pillowcases.
Tues., May 12, 1936 - We worked on fair work most of the day.  Embroidered tonite.
Wed., May 13, 1936 - More fair work.  Earl took exams in town.  Mrs. Nieman to Altona this afternoon.  I was chief cook and bottle washer again.

Other than my John, I have not heard anyone use the phrase "chief cook and bottle washer" -- in fact, John says "head cook and bottle washer".  Since I have only heard it from John, I assumed the phrase had a military origin.  I found this on a webpage with a lively discussion re this topic:

     "The main sense of the phrase I'm familiar with is: someone who is in charge of most all matters in an organization, both the important and menial.

     I found a reference to the phrase in Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases by Bartlett Jere Whiting which lists two citations:

     1809 Linsley Love 40: I acts cook, steward, cabin boy, sailor, mate, and bottle washer.

     1844 Hone Diary 2.705: Gen. Jackson’s chief cook and bottle washer, Col. Polk.

     I also found an interesting reference from 1835 which referred to the Devil as being the "chief cook and bottle-washer of the slave-trade."

     The earliest citation refers to "cook" and "bottle washer" as being just two of the many tasks the narrator needs to perform on board a ship.

     Since the earliest citation refers to life at sea, I have a strong suspicion that the phrase originated in the sailing/naval sense. I haven't done any research in 18-19th century naval life, but I imagine that "bottle washing" was a task often performed on sailing vessels. I have to presume that bottles of rum, messages in a bottle, ships in a bottle — all these bottle-related naval tropes have some basis in history. Certainly a bottle-shaped receptacle for drinking is more practical on rough seas than water/grog/rum sloshing over the rim of a mug or cup." (from english.stackexchange.com)

Another person wondered if it was more correctly "chief, cook, and bottle washer."  Food for thought.

Photo borrowed from navyhistory.org.

Nope, it's still nite

Fri., May 8, 1936 - Rained last nite and quite a bit today.  Mr. Nieman took me to town.  Davis', Fritz & Ella Mann, Irene, Helen, Raymond, Florence & Edwin here for Card Club.  The rain kept the rest home.  We served ginger bread with whipped cream.  Howard is down at Elmer's.
Sat., May 9, 1936 - Cloudy & rainy today.  After we straightened the house, I embroidered.  I made out the order for the wallpaper for "the house."
Sun., May 10, 1936 - This is Mother's Day.  Cleared up in a.m.  Mom went to church.  In the afternoon she went to the school house -- Patron's Day.  Annie, Ola, kids, Audrey and Mary Farran came home with her.  They all had lunch here.  Mom and I walked down to Schellenbergs' and Annie Miller's tonite after supper.  I thought Howard wasn't coming tonite but he showed up anyway.  He's helping Elmer this week.

Other than knowing the meanings of the words themselves, I am not sure what Patron's Day is and how Grandma Anna came to collect so many to come home and have lunch.  Maybe they were volunteering and doing good things up at the schoolhouse and were hungry.

I have a bunch of embroidery patterns from when we cleaned out Grandma's house.  I couldn't begin to make a dent in actually using them, but I can't bear to part with them.  Just like all the recipes I have collected that I will never use.  Ah, well -- what's the harm, right?

Turning a corner?

Tues., May 5, 1936 - Mr. Nieman went after Mrs. N. after supper.  Reuben went to League, so Verdelle Mae and I were alone.  Mr. and Mrs. N. came home just as we were going to bed.
Wed., May 6, 1936 - Mom called up before supper and said that the soreness she had in her neck over the weekend was almost gone.  I went to town tonite with Niemans.  Mom wasn't home.  She had gone to R.N.A. lodge.
Thurs., May 7, 1936 - Mrs. Nieman went to Altona again tonite after supper.  Verdelle Mae and I made tally cards for Card Club tomorrow night.

This seems to be the first time Grandma uses "night" instead of "nite".  Maybe all that teaching had an impact.  I have always puzzled why she used "nite" -- seemed unlike her, but then again, I did not know the 20-something year old Marian Andersen.

Here's a photo of Norman.  And also my sock and laundry basket, but those aren't important.  Norman was almost 11 years old when we got him two years ago.  He was very spry for his age and quite a character.  He died yesterday very suddenly from a twisted stomach.  We knew we wouldn't have him for a long time to begin with, but it was still an unwelcome shock.  Rest easy, buddy.

Garden started

Sat., May 2, 1936 - I went to Wayne on the morning train.  Went to Miss Sewell's office for fair labels.  Bought garden seed.  Howard up a few minutes this evening to see if we were going to the place tomorrow.
Sun., May 3, 1936 - We, Ray, Mom and I, went out to the place.  Howard came a little later we did.  The boys spaded the garden and Mom and I planted the stuff.  Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Miller came soon after we got home again.  Howard brought me to Niemans.
Mon., May 4, 1936 - Mr. Nieman took the Mrs. to Altona after supper.  Verdelle Mae went along.  Mr. and V.M. are coming back sometime tonite.

No time was wasted getting seed in the ground, but with a May start, that seems about right to me.

I had to post a photo of Carol today  Mom, Nancy, Wayne and I went up to Norfolk yesterday for her funeral.  The whole family is sure going to miss her something fierce.  I told a few people that as a little girl, I thought she was all that and then some.  I often wished my name had been Carol, more because of her I'm sure than the name itself.

Poor Earl

Wed., April 29, 1936 - Cooler today.  Cloudy but no rain.  Once again I played outside with the kids at noon.
Thurs., April 30, 1936 - We had a good rain last nite.  Mrs. Nieman rec'd word this morning that her mother is quite ill.  Mr. Nieman took her to Altona right after breakfast.  I got supper tonite.  Mom called up and told me the boys' exam grades.  Earl has to take 2 over.  The others were good.  Mr. Nieman went to Altona after supper.
Fri., May 1, 1936 - Earl felt pretty bad about his grades.  Mr. Nieman took me to town right after school.  Mom and I talked and planned.

I should state that regarding yesterday's post that I realize the garden likely was a genuine priority.  Homegrown food was much cheaper and more readily available than that at a store, I would imagine.  But still, getting the garden started had to be more fun than dealing with multiple junk piles.

Photo from standupguys.biz

Priorities, priorities

Sun., April 26, 1936 - Mom, Ray, and I went to see "the place" this a.m.  Heithold moved off last week.  The house needs painting and papering.  Only about 7 or 8 junk piles can be found around the place.  Went home for dinner and back again in p.m.  Howard there, too.  We raked the garden and cleaned up one junk pile.  Howard brought me to Niemans this eve.
Mon., April 27, 1936 - Cloudy this a.m. and clear this p.m.  I read until 9:30 tonite.  Irene and Helen came up to school tonite and brought some school books back.
Tues., April 28, 1936 - Rained this afternoon, even thundered some.  The rain soaked in about an inch or two.

Obviously I am reading between the lines here, but did they put off deciding to get married until they had a place to live first?  Makes sense to me.  So, that's the first priority.  Equally, or likely more important, was apparently the garden.  Skip the other six or seven junk piles, let's get the garden ready!  Gotta love it.  Speaking of which, my little raised beds are all weeded, and three of the four have something planted in them even.  Woo hoo!  That's one of them in the photo (ignore the yuck in the background -- it's gone now) complete with four Savoy cabbage plants, one eggplant and two green pepper plants.  Hay mulch courtesy of messy goats who waste lots of it.

And there we have it

Thurs., April 23, 1936 - Howard took me to town tonite.  Mom and I saw Will Rogers in "In Old Kentucky".  Howard's eyes hurt so he didn't care to go.  We decided tonite to tie the knot June 7.
Fri., April 24, 1936 - Mr. Nieman took me into town after school.  Went to Lodge.  We initiated Mrs. Larson for the Carroll lodge.
Sat., April 25, 1936 - Went down town this a.m.  Washed and ironed my school clothes.  Went to Card Club at Wackers'.  Howard stayed home to get some rest, so he said.

I would guess (and hope!) that Grandma's saying "so he said" was not intended to sound the way it does.  Quite frankly, it cracked me up when I read that -- so much for newly-engaged bliss.

It's more of a teaser than a plot summary, but this is what I found on IMDB about the movie:

     "Horse trainer Steve Tapley is caught between the feuding Martingale and Shattuck families. He sides with young Nancy Martingale and her grandfather Ezra, and the feud is to be resolved by a horse race between the favorites of each family. Unfortunately, the Martingale's horse, Greyboy, only runs well in mud. And it hasn't rained in a long time."

And from wikipedia:

     "In Old Kentucky is a 1935 American comedy film starring Will Rogers, Dorothy Wilson and Russell Hardie. Two feuding families decide to settle a dispute with a horse race. It was Rogers' last film and was released posthumously, after he was killed in a plane crash on August 15, 1935."

Movie poster found at IMDB.

Who needs physiology anyway?

Mon., April 20, 1936 - Windy and cloudy.  Sprinkled a little in a.m.  The girls came after me tonite.  We went to town to practice for initiating Carroll's new member this Friday night.
Tues., April 21, 1936 - We really didn't have much school today with the seventh grade gone.  Went to bed early tonite.
Wed., April 22, 1936 - Talked over examination questions.  They were pretty easy except Physiology.  We planted trees this morning and the boys fixed the approaches to the school yard.

Based on other entries, I am guessing "the girls" are Aunt Irene and Aunt Helen.

For some reason, I really like the idea of country school kids planting trees and fixing approaches.  Even then, not everything at school was books and chalkboards. 

Speaking of trees, I took the photo above this week.  Anna gave me a tree for no particular reason last year.  I dutifully planted it and put a protective wire cage around it to be sure it wasn't mowed or driven over.  It stayed alive all last year but never seemed to grow much.  Then this winter, someone (not me) drove over my sturdy wire cage and dented it up pretty well.  In their defense, we had had a bunch of snow and the pickup is tall, so they probably couldn't see it.  I was not hopeful for the little tree, but did go searching for it a few weeks ago.  I thought a little skinny stick I found might be it, but I was not sure.  Then this week, I spied the tree in the photo.  It is in the right spot (as far as I can tell since my cage was severely dislodged from its original position), it's an oak (which is what Anna gave me and what she said is in the photo), and it's alive!  So, I put a temporary cage around it and will clear out the grass and weeds and see if the little thing can make a go of it.  Updates as conditions warrant, if I remember.

Sorry, I've been absent a bit

Fri., April 17, 1936 - Nice again today.  Reviewed after school.  Went to bed early.  Today didn't seem like Friday -- it really didn't seem like any of the days of the week.
Sat., April 18, 1936 - Lovely warm day.  Made up our other day.  Dismissed school at 2:00.  Howard came after me about 5:00 instead of after supper tonite.  Went to a dance at Winside tonite that Raymond and Leo Nelsen were giving for their birthday.  I didn't dance, was afraid to.  Stayed til after intermission.
Sun., April 19, 1936 - Ray home today.  Ray, Mom and I went out to Ola's about 12:00.  Had dinner there and stayed until about 4:00.  Howard brought me to Nieman's tonite.

Life has been a bit busy for me for the following reasons:

1.  John was visiting Liz in Wisconsin for several days, so I took the opportunity to get lots of things done around the house and yard.

2.  I have a work project that has taken some planning and will take a good deal of time, all of which has taken away from my few minutes away from work to do this.

3.  Two more baby goats!  Well, they haven't taken me away from the blog, really, but they are so darned cute and little I just had to mention them.  There they are in the photos, less than 24 hours old, and cute as can be.  I can't even describe how small the white one is.  Definitely the teeniest of this year's kids.  But, she seems to be doing okay so far.