More than 50 years ago I subscribed to a craft magazine that I do not even remember the name of.
I always got excited when the next issue arrived. I had a lot of time on my hands at that time. My children were young and took naps. Naptime was my time to do crafts.
I was living in a mobile home. It was not one of the larger ones either. I had to get out my craft and be sure I could put it away before the children awoke.
I sent for some paintings. They were the paint-by-number type. I got the four seasons plus the frames for them. Now, let me tell you that I am not at all artistically inclined. I knew I could accomplish these because I had done some of them earlier on. I never would have been able to paint these things on my own.
Each painting used many colors. I could not paint more than one color at a time. To make better time I worked on all four paintings at once. That meant I had four canvases that were wet.
If you are at all familiar with trailers, you know that I did not have a lot of room. I had to be able to get those wet canvases out of the way of my toddlers. I put them on my counter top on top of my canister set to dry.
I have no idea how long it took me to complete the set, but complete it I did. I could hardly wait to hang them up over my couch. They were a good replacement for the horrible city scene that came with the trailer. Since I lived in the country, I wanted things that looked like they belonged in the country. These pictures certainly did that.
They have now been part of my decor for more than 50 years. Recently I refinished my daughter’s old bedroom, I hung them up in there. I rather like the way the look against the green wall of the bedroom.
I hung them spring through winter. The spring picture has a pair of swans along with an apple tree in blossom. We have many apple trees on the farm. The summer picture has a little boy with a fishing pole by a farm pond. I thought of my little boy who might get a chance to go fishing someday. The fall picture had a pair of pheasants. We have lots of pheasants around here. The winter picture is of a pair of deer wandering around in the woods. I can certainly relate to that. There are deer in the yard at Hickory Heights all of the time.
I like those pictures as much today as I did when I was painting them. They remind me of my life as a farmer’s wife.
I never participated in the political end that went with teaching. I was more than a teacher. I was a farmer’s wife as well. I had to make the best decision for all of us and many times it was not what the teachers favored.
Life in the country was fairly simple.
We did a lot of things at home. There was never very much time to go anyplace. Life revolved around the farm and what was going on at the time.
There are so many good memories. I took a lot of pictures so that we could remember. I remember one fall it was so wet in the field that we could not get the heavy equipment into the field to cut the corn to put into the silo. That year we were all out there picking corn so we would have some to grind for animal feed. The pictures of that day are beautiful because the leaves were at their peak. We all wore bright colored outfits so the bow and arrow hunters would not mistake us for animals. Even though the children were small they were big enough to help pick the ears of corn.
Another day that I remember was getting animals ready to go to the fair. We took pictures of the children washing their calves, after trimming their hooves. Taking animals to the fair is a lot of work. You not only have to get them ready; you have to care for them at the fair.
Once they are clean you do not want them to lay in a mess.
I not only have photographs; I have movies as well. I guess maybe it is time to get out those old movies and have a look at them. We preserved many memories that way. Although it is bitter sweet looking at them (so many people are gone) it is a way of remembering the good times.
Ann Swanson writes from her home in Russell, Pa. Contact at [email protected].
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