Comments on (III) The Last Party

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That was a small acreage to wrest a living from, as you say when the children came.

posted by C_C_T on April 2, 2021 at 1:21 AM | link to this | reply

I think it still is. Yes, there have been advances in technology, but still it is very hard work.

posted by Annicita on March 30, 2021 at 7:05 PM | link to this | reply

Our Grandmothers or great Grandmothers lived hard working lives, often dying in childbirth way too young or just worn out from having another babe every year. 

posted by Kabu on March 30, 2021 at 4:07 PM | link to this | reply

Re: Re: Good Morning

Taps, my grandma made the best mashed potatoes, gravy, and chicken.  I could never do what your Mom did.  I would have to be a vegetarian.  I just don't have it in me.  I never saw my grandma kill a chicken.  She would just announce that she was going to the hen house.  Thank goodness I didn't witness that.  I'm much too sensitive for that. My grandma would talk about a chicken thief but I have no idea what she was talking about. 

posted by Goldiec on March 30, 2021 at 3:40 PM | link to this | reply

Reading this, I feel as though I was there. As someone who loves history, this really appeals to me.

posted by FormerStudentIntern on March 30, 2021 at 8:55 AM | link to this | reply

Re: Good Morning

We had chickens when I was little and the killing of it was not the only gruesome part.  My mom would set a galvanized tub outside and soak the dead chicken in boiling water for a bit to loosen the feathers and then pluck all the feathers.  The smell of the wet feathers was atrocious.  Then she would take the plucked chicken into the kitchen and disembowel it of its innards, saving the gizzard, the liver and the heart.  She would cut off its feet and its head.  I swore that when I grew up that I would never have chickens and that and would only buy the ones already processed.  I kept my word.  But I must say my mom made the best ever chicken and dumplings, or chicken and noodles with our homegrown and home processed ones.

posted by TAPS. on March 30, 2021 at 8:49 AM | link to this | reply

Good Morning

I'm not sure how Bertha kept up with all that she had to do.  I've never had that much energy.  My family had a farm and I remember my Grandma used to go out and kill a chicken for dinner and I always wondered why my Grandfather didn't do that gruesome job.  There would never be chicken on the table if I had to kill a chicken.  I just don't have it in me.

posted by Goldiec on March 30, 2021 at 7:03 AM | link to this | reply

Sounds so familiar - day in, day out - just work, weather and willpower.

posted by Pat_B on March 30, 2021 at 4:24 AM | link to this | reply