Still more "back when"....

I keep just thinking and thinking about one thing and then another but that's what, I hope, will make this interesting to my readers. After talking about the fruit canning, etc. last night I got to thinking about the Fall weather when we were on the farm! Every year all the men and women who lived in Wawawai, (which was mainly my father's brothers and sisters and families) would get together and go one weekend or so many days anyway, and go from one farm to the next. The men would saw the wood for the winter for those good old pot-bellied stoves and the women would come, (and of course all the kids, and put together new quilts for the family. Usually all year long in the evenings or whatever, the women of a household would make Quilt tops and on this given day in the fall would put together quilts for that family! Then the next week or two, (a lot of times depending on the weather) they would all go to the next farm and do the same thing for that family! They were quilting bees but while the women were tieing or quilting the quilts, the men were getting that fellow's wood all ready for winter! One or two of the women would cook big pots of stew or beans or something for the crowd. And of course, every one made their own bread in those days and sweet cream butter! That was usually topped off by a delicious pie or cake. The kids in the meantime had a ball! You'd think they hadn't seen each other for years and probably had seen each other at least once a week during the summer! Then later in the fall Dad put big pork butts and slabs of fresh pork sides and "smoked" them in a "smokehouse" and so we had ham and bacon! Our big house that we lived in the longest had ten rooms and was laid out as such. As you came in the front door you came into a large living room, and the staircase, going up to the second floor. Off this living room, pardon me, "the parlor", were two bedroom and then under the staircase was a big closet. beyond this closet was the dining room and then into the kitchen. One could go out of the house to the back yard through the dining room or out of the kitchen door! When you went upstairs, right at the head of the stairs was a hallway . Going one way were three bedroom and then the room over the dining room and the kitchen was a big storage room where the folks kept big 100lb. sacks of flour, sugar, beans, and whatever did not need the coolness of the root cellar. It was a good place to hide too, when playing "Hide and Seek" in the house.The house was always nice and warm and inviting when the weather was cool and yes, it did snow down there in Wawawai! The summers were something else! It not only got into the triple digit figures most of the time but with the Snake River there was enough moisture to make it very humid! But we were kids and all summer long we were barefoot and had nice little short-sleeved cotton dresses for the girls and the boys had cotton shirts and overalls. Did we care how hot it got!! The worst thing I remember about the farm was the constant buzzing of bees, and the flies were unbelievable! With several kids running in and out of the house constantly, I can still hear Mother, "shut that screen door!" Good night all. I've had a busy day today, changed my sheets on my bed, cleaned up the house and my Sister Barbara called and said Father Brandon had called and was on his way to visit us! Here I was still in my usual, casual attire, (a housecoat and still in my nightgown) I told her, don't let him out of your house till I take a bath and change my clothes!!! He has only been here a year, and this is his first Parish! He visits the sick, etc.! What a really nice young man! Makes me think of my family when "they" were young! Yes, face it you "middle-agers!"