The Old Home Place

I have been walking down memory lane for a few days, remembering the past with my beloved family. There were 9 of us, and we lived on a little plot in the country and made our own little farm. We grew and provided much of our own food. We had a cow who gave us milk and cream. We children had large old pickle jars with lids. We churned our butter that way, each filling our jar about two-thirds full and shaking it back and forth until we got butter.

We had fruit trees for fresh fruit. We kept free range chickens who gave us eggs and fried chicken. Someone could be walking around in the yard in the morning and on the lunch table at noon. My task was to remove the feathers after the chickens had been dipped in hot water to soften up the feathers. Phew! Not a pleasant job!

Dad raised pigs for winter needs—pork chops, sausage, bacon and ham. The only problem for me was that I made friends of the babies and had names for each one! Then in the winter, I cried to think my friends had to die so we could eat. Dad had a smoke shed where he smoked the meat.

We lived in an area of coal mines and burned coal in our big, black kitchen range. The pigs loved to eat coal. I was forbidden to give coal to the pigs, but I’m afraid I disobeyed and gave it to them. They LOVED to eat it. I guess it was their candy.

We had a large garden which gave us fresh vegetables all summer. We canned jars for winter. Since we had no electricity, we had no freezer. We were never hungry, and there was food on the table three times a day. God in His mercy has provided for me all my life. I have never been hungry or lacked a home, a place to sleep, people who loved me. There was no tv or phone. But we had books to read, and we played in the woods, in the creeks and hollows. We made playhouses under the trees and freely roamed the fields and pastures.

In Spring my Dad went into the woods and found wild mushrooms. He was a prodigious hunter and would come home with buckets full of huge mushrooms. I actually got tired of eating them before the season was over. Imagine that! What I wouldn’t give now for fresh mushrooms in the springtime! Imagine a plate of fresh mushrooms with a couple of eggs straight from the chicken house and a slice of Mother’s fresh bread slathered with blackberry jelly! Coukd such a feast even be duplicated now?

Next time, if the Lord tarries, I will tell you of wash days on the farm, the old well down the brick pathway, and big family celebrations. Til then, “The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you, the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace” (Numbers 6:24-26).