Plowgirl Farm House Series #2
Front of house in 1980’s
My grandparents, Herman and Bernida, lived in this house 8 years. Those who came during those years say that my grandparents kept this place up immaculately. My grandma was very tidy and that applied to the outside and inside of the house.
Grandma loved vines
I was a young kid when my grandparents lived at this house, but some of my memories include swinging on the huge swing, fishing for trout in the pond, and playing with barn kitties. I remember my grandpa sleeping on the floor in front of the fire with his feet up on a little stool, and my grandma’s warm oatmeal raisin cookies.
The big swing
The trout pond.
My grandparents both loved gardening. I remember helping them in the garden. They could work most other folks into the ground until they were in their late seventies. The flower gardens and vegetable garden at that time were beautiful.
The south side of the house was much sunnier back then
Beautiful hydrangeas and I love the shutters
Vegetable garden, in a similar place to the garden now
I have 57 first cousins and more than double that in second cousins on my mom’s side of the family. We were an athletic and rambunctious lot, with a healthy dose of respect taught to us by our parents. My grandma had this swing that had a floral top and my cousins and I would swing on that swing until it fell over. My grandma did not like that and neither did our parents… I remember picking a whole bunch of my grandmas flowers and bringing them to her. She was not very happy about that either. My mom let me know that grandmas flowers were not a U-pick farm.
The back yard and that floral swing
One of my fondest memories of my grandma was her taking care of all of her red geraniums that she moved to the front porch in the winter. It felt like a greenhouse in there to me. I loved the smell and the blossoms spilling everywhere.
The front porch in summer, without the geraniums
My uncle Jim lived in the house on the servant’s quarters side, and my two youngest uncles spent summers here while home from college. Tragically, my Uncle Jim died while driving a school bus home over Mariah’s pass on a snowy night. My grandma never felt the same living here after that, and in addition to that, she found that they lived just far enough away that her kids and grandkids would not stop by to see her very often. My grandparents were by this time, in their seventies and this is a lot of land and house to take care of. They sold the house and moved 15 minutes further north where they lived their final days, but this house has always been referred to as grandpa and grandma’s house by most of my cousins because so many of us grew up playing here.
The view from my grandparents house in the 1980’s
