a little music mix

Last Sunday, I took a little road trip to visit my grandmother, Gigi, who lives about two hours away. She was being honored as the oldest living member of her church and was lighting the Advent candle for the season, so of course I wanted to be there to celebrate. It was a beautiful service. The choir dedicated a song to her and the preacher said a few words as did my uncle.

Music has always been a huge part of Gigi's life. She was an incredible pianist and often played both the organ and piano at her church. But seeing as I didn't go to church too often, I mostly remember what she played at home, a mix of 1930s-1940s tunes played by ear and gospel music from her post-it filled hymnal.

While she can't remember who I am now, just a vague sense of familiarity, she can still sing and recite song lyrics. It truly amazes me.

Today's music mix is a collection of songs she loved combined with those I used to ask her to play for me. Enjoy!



Any guesses at which song was her number one favorite and which one I asked her to play most often?



The First United Methodist Church in Marlin, Texas where Gigi has been a member since 1929.

the autograph book

Over the holidays, I came across the autograph book of my great-great aunt, Beatrice (pronounced Bee-AAH-Trice). It was given to her in 1918 and she used until her early death just a few short years later. It's filled with funny little poems and sayings from friends and family who were expected to write something witty or clever.








***Side Note: The names of my great grandmother and her three sisters all came from late 1800's/early 1900's romance novels. Their names were: Ethel Arduro, Beatrice Owens, Iva Deoma and Lillian Chesney. If you happen to be a turn-of-the-century romance novel buff, and know where these names may have come from do let me know!

hello grandaddy

Finally a proper blog post for you! This morning my mom and I headed about an hour and half northeast of Austin for a little visit with my Grandaddy and Gigi. The town, like so many small Texas towns, is slowly dying as corporations root out the local businesses and folks continue to move into larger cities where jobs are more abundant. These days, though, things seem to be going downhill rather quickly. Let's take yesterday as an example. The water main busted and the entire town was left with no source of water until this morning.



Needless to say, lunching with Grandaddy always involves dining out and today was no exception. We headed over for catfish at the new truck stop slash restaurant one town over. That's my Grandaddy if you hadn't guessed! Looking rather annoyed I'm snapping photos over lunch.



My lovely mother. Although she may beg to differ about this photo...Sorry Mom but I thought it was cute!



Dried flowers that have been in my grandparent's kitchen just about as long as I can remember.



A sneak peak of tomorrow's back-on-track fashion post. Perhaps you've seen the dress on the blogs of a few other fashionable ladies...



One of the many quilts made by my great grandmother, Granny Ward. According to my mom, most of the pieces are snippets of family clothing as she never let anything go to waste.

Now to plan tomorrow's photos and estate sales with Mom...And then bedtime! It's been an utterly exhausting day! Goodnight ladies and gents. Sleep tight!

a family affair: granny

Finally. More photos along with bits and pieces from Granny's scrapbook! I don't know why but for some reason as much as I love doing these, I can never decide which bits to put together. This little collection I loved because it's a side of her I never knew. The young, happy go lucky gal in nursing school. That and Western Union messages are so neat!

The prose style writing. So simplistic. So too the point. Dotted with STOPs because punctuation cost extra. I didn't realize it, but they were actually most popular in the 1920s and 30s because they were still cheaper than long-distance phone calls.



Oh and the funny thing about the Wrigley's gum wrapper is that Granny always had a pack of Wrigley's in her purse. Usually one or two of those five piece packs. She used to get them when she would pay her tab at Live Oak Grocery, the local grocery store. On car rides, my cousin and I would have little tea parties with tiny goblets she taught us to make with the foil pieces. Resourceful much!

it's all in the genes

Strange...People tell me all the time how much I look like my Mom, but my Granny, that's a new one! I mean, I've always thanked my Granny for my love of sewing and general craftiness, but never had I thought about my features. We look a bit alike no? Between me, my mom, her twin sister and my two lady cousins, the women in my family carry some strong genes that's for sure!

Oh and by the way, I promise more photos and stories about Granny in the near future like the posting I did back in November. I was actually working on one yesterday but got distracted when I realized how much I take after her! What about you, any striking resemblances to folks in your family?

a family affair: granny

About a month ago, I started sorting through old photos and scanning them into my computer with the idea of doing a series on the women in family. I kept putting it off and putting it off, thinking ya'll probably wouldn't be too interested. But alas, I finally pulled a little something together about my Granny during the 1940s. Let me know what you think! She kept a scrapbook filled with neat little wrappers, autograph books, letters and the like.



Anywho here's a bit to start...

In 1937, my Granny left her parents home in Marlin to join her sister Kathryn at the King's Daughters Hospital School of Nursing in Temple, Texas. I always knew she studied there, but only recently discovered the journal she kept during her time in school which was filled with juicy letters from gentlemen suitors I knew nothing about! Apparently she was quite the catch.

I'm debating whether or not to publish the letters on account of, I don't really know if I would want letters from my scrapbox published 60 years from now! I suppose I wouldn't care too terribly much by that time, but we'll see though. I may just end up pulling a few lines here and there. After all, I'm a sucker for the style of writing during that time, and the art of letter writing.

In the meantime, I'll start things off with a few interesting tidbits of her time there...

* While attending nursing school, all the girls were required to live at the hospital where they had a daily curfew. Apparently Granny was always worried because her sister was constantly sneaking in and out with no regard. If you knew Kathryn, chances are you'd be floored to find this out about her!

* On Sundays, a hearse was sent over by one of the local funeral homes to pick up anyone who wanted to attend church. I am imagine this could get a bit depressing, or pretty hilarious depending on how you looked at it!

* Granny always wanted to be a dietician, and her favorite times in school were working in the kitchen. And actually, it was there were she met my Granddaddy who at the time was the milkman. She even kept one of the milk caps in her scrapbook...How cute is that!

Questions...Comments...Am I the only one interested in these? Honesty ladies and gentlemen. Honesty!