In August 1940, Uncle Earle took another series of pictures, those shown here, at the farm. Apparently, there was no reunion at that time, but clearly, he continued to be interested in the historic nature of farming with horses – and perhaps also a sense that these are the last years for both his dad and the horses.
Note the plantings in the yard in the above picture -- peonies and roses. My dad was having none of that. When Grandma Ina was gone, he removed any obstacle to mowing. I hear the same complaint from Mike.
Enlarge this picture for a better view of what the yard was like in 1940. It appears to be squared off on the southwest corner -- a much larger working yard than we have today. The orchard to the south was still there at that time. And note all the trees!
Enjoy the pictures. Blogger just doesn't want to cooperate with me, but at least I managed to post them.
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| The house is in the background. |
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| "Looking west over the prairie," says Uncle Earle. |
6 comments:
Note the little structure to the right and back of the house. It was an insulated food storage place like an above ground cellar. In 1996 a big pine tree fell squarely on it as well as part of the house. That's when we decided we either had to abandon the house or remodel it. So here we are.
Such great photos! I love that when Ina lived there there were flowers. Jack must have known how important they were to her.
I watch videos on YouTube of small-scale farmers. I think there's a movement of folks starting high-production vegetable gardens on just one or two acres. It's very interesting; I think the future of farming is evolving.
Hi Chris! Your comment caught me off-guard because I don't see Jack as a romantic. (I don't see Ina as one either, for that matter.) But then I realized that you meant he agreed to mow around the bushes, and I suppose that was true. It might have been Earle doing most of the mowing.
And Hallie, I think sustainable gardening is popular with some folks now -- modern homesteading. It appeals to me, too, but either my thumb isn't green enough, or there's something amiss here. It's too wet in the spring and too hot and dry in the summer. And then the days grow short and the plants get the picture. The ground is just so hard. But I keep trying in my way.
When I was on the farm in 1950, Things had changed. The wood posts around the yard were gone. I don't know where the trees went, but they slowly disappeared. I don't remember cutting any of them. I do remember the binder, putting the grain into shocks, which we put into June's barn with pitchforks. They had two horses, (June did) named Sam and Madge. They pulled the wagon with the hay. Later came the Cletrac, which I learned to drive, pulling the wagon and other farm implements which were acquired for tractor farming.
Hi Chuck!
I see that there were trees where the lane is today. Daddy said that when Earl Wright bought June's place, he built the present lane because they would no longer have access across June's field. I wonder how those trees were removed. I imagine they were logged off.
As I've indicated, Daddy didn't want obstructions, so fences were removed. Grandma Ina had some lovely rose bushes off the kitchen porch, and those remained for a few years after she passed but were eventually removed as well. I think Ina loved roses.
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