This long weekend is off to a wet start. Rain puts me in a nostalgic mood and I think of what a rainy morning may have been like on the Latty farm when my mother was a young girl. My grandfather always went to the barn to milk while the morning was still as dark […]
Aug 29, 2024
Wash Day
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You’ve come a long way, baby, was a slogan from a tobacco company several years ago. That slogan could apply to how wash day has changed from the way it used to be. We probably don’t even have a “wash day” any more. Any time we have a load of clothes that need to be […]
Mar 30, 2023
A Long Time Ago
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As twilight slips in and throws long shadows across the lawn, I’m reminded of how days ended a long time ago when I was a child. At the same time each evening, the cows would amble across the pasture toward the barn. It was milking time. Mom would have supper on the stove and Dad […]
Jan 27, 2023
The Artist
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She was born Lydia Head in South Carolina in 1824 and married James Barker in 1847. Lydia and James worked on their farm in Georgia. Life must have been hard but good for Lydia until something happened to change it all. The Barker family was about to go to church. James was sitting in the […]
Aug 31, 2022
Night at Etta
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Last night ended peacefully after an exciting end to Monday. At Etta Bend, a hundred years ago, it is a peaceful ending to a busy day. My grandfather, I called him Pappy, has come in from the fields. Ma Latty, my grandmother, has finished making supper, and the girls, Alice, Susie, and Georgia have washed […]
Aug 31, 2021
Way of Life at Etta Bend
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The following story is from my mother’s book, Remembering Etta Bend. These are the words of Susie Latty, who, much later, became my mom. This would have been around 1918. Most of the things we used were homemade and they had to last as long as possible. Papa carved his own handles and wood implements […]
