Saved

I confess I am an incorrigible. I was pretty determined to get rid of stuff with the big sale—and really I was good! Got rid of tons. But as I watched things walking away I felt a few twinges and I sneaked a few things back into the house. I looked at my ice cream maker for a long time and reminded myself how long it has been since I used it, but I also remembered how wonderful homemade ice cream and sorbet is. It's back. I also saved the little crock above. It was from my great grandmother's house out in the eastern Colorado prairie. It once held something like butter, or cream or pickles. Now I like it with roses in it. It is very old.

I ran across a folder of old photos, while I was pulling out things for the sale. This is the house on the prairie.

Those are my great grandparents in the middle, my grandmother Clarice next to the horse and my great aunt Caroline is the other little girl. The two other men may have been my great grandmother's brothers. We visited there in the summers when I was a child. By then a little town had grown up around it and there were big shady trees all around as well. My little crock was probably somewhere inside when this picture was taken. Needless to say, all these people are gone, but I love that I have pictures of them.

Here's my other grandmother, Hazle. (That's how she spelled it) This is her High School graduation picture.

I am working on a small quilted piece based on this photo. I wish I could show it to you. I will eventually, but it is for something special and cannot be shown yet.

Grandma Hazle had that same bold gaze as long as I knew her. She was a vivid personality—a force. As a child I knew her only from summer visits, but I ended up living in the same town with her after I was grown and married and we were close until her death, just a few months shy of her 100th birthday. She lives on in funny stories and memories of her adventures, as well as a small book of her poetry.