At the Lake Part 9 - A New Home

[note: This story was written by my sister Esther]

We spent some wonderful years at the lake. The fishing hole, the doctor told Vernon to find, was really the best and we loved being in the pine tree forest. Among the pine trees were the most lovely dog wood trees. To see the creamy white blossoms surrounded by all the green pine needle was a scene that remind me of the Christmas Holidays. A time of peace and happiness. It was not only good for Vernon, but really good for me also.

As I said, the travel trailer was not comfortable enough to have company, and we thought we could manage to make do for a while. It was just too much. It was not easy to convert the front of the trailer into a bed room, and then to remove the table top in the dinning area to make another bed for the company. So off to find us a mobile home.

It did not take long to know what we wanted. A mobile home with out all the built ins. Vernon wanted room and I wanted to have my sewing machine out to be used when ever it was needed. Something I could not have in the small travel trailer. And I wanted lots and lots of windows. We did pick one we liked and it was delivered a week later.

It took them a while to drive down the winding gravel road with the mobile home. It was one lane from the pavement to the gate where you came into our land. The driver knew his business, as he drove in with out a problem. Vernon told him where to park it and they set if up and even had it anchored down with some deep grounded metal straps. Which help keep it in place if the weather was bad, with tornado type storms.

Getting all the utilities in was difficult and until the new lines and pipes were finished, we were glad to have the little travel trailer to live in. Vernon put in the new water pipes with the help of our son. He laid out the line and the son dug the trench and Vernon then glued the fittings and even tried to help cover it up. Vernon found it was too much for him to shovel the dirt so let jr do it. He learn to let others do the heavy work.

How nice it was to able to walk from the front room to the kitchen, or to the dinning room, and to the front room. All three areas were in the one large room at the front of the trailer. It was a big space and I loved it. It made a big difference in walking between the two trailers. One item we needed was a new big screen television. Vernon did love to watch his football and base ball although he never really had a favorite team.

After we moved in to our new home, my Mom and Dad came to spend a few days with us. Mom wanted me to help her do some sewing for a quilt top she wanted to finish. And Dad wanted to go fishing. So off the men went, and Mom and I started sewing. She let me sew while she made the stew for our supper. It was not long till she was beside me and giving me the cut pieces to sew. Together we had the quilt top done and I liked the pattern: "A Double Irish Chain". She would finish quilting it at her home where she had a quilt frame Dad had made for her in his wood shop. That was my first time to sew a quilt top and knew I would do some more. Mom showed me some of her patterns and they were all so pretty. Guess you know, I was truly hooked on quilting now.

Mom even got me to make one with a tiny hexagon, the size of a fifty cent piece. It was so small, and I thought it could not be done on the sewing machine. I knew it needed to be done by hand stitching. "Grandmother’s Flower Garden ", it was one I could take with me in my pocket and find time to sew on when I would wait in the waiting room while Vernon would see his doctor. Or any place was good if there was time to sew a few seams. Each seam was almost an inch wide, so I could sew a few and it was something I really loved to do. It was my purple passion to sew them.

I’d tell Mom how much she taught me and she would tell me every one of her children were good at something and sewing was mine. Marion Elizabeth could paint. Mickey was a gourmet cook who could cook, bake and make up new recipes. Charles was good at sculpting. Jerry could take old cans or plastic bottles and make the nicest items. Jerry showed my children how to make log planter out of cans with plaster of Paris and paper towel cardboard rolls with some shoe polish to make it look like a weathered log.

Every one but me loved to travel. At the drop of a hat or sooner they would just up and be off on a trip. For me, it was to have them come to visit us. Vernon enjoyed having a fishing partner and I loved company.