In the Summer of '79

This is a picture of me and my great grandparents, Charlie & Ida, on their farm in 1979. My great grandmother is the inspiration in much that I do. There are two things that I always remember about her, she was either sewing or cooking. When someone visited her house she had to run to the kitchen and fix a meal, not a snack, but a full meal. You were not allowed to leave her house without eating. She never fixed a meal just enough for the people that were there, no, she fixed 3 times that. She cooked for an army! I don't think anyone can say they ever tasted something of hers that was not good. My favorite meal she cooked was chicken and dumplings. I think I could eat my weight in those. I was lucky enough to find her recipe a few years back shoved in a drawer inside an old cookbook at my grandmother's house. No one else can cook dumplings like her!
She always had a pie or cake in the oven also. No matter what time of day or night; there was something in the oven. She was always prepared for company. All of my birthday cakes growing up were made by her. I think my favorite was a checkerboard cake. For my 30th birthday, my mother gathered up all (that she could find) of her recipes and made a scrapbook for me. Unfortunately, the checkerboard cake wasn't to be found.
The other thing I remember about her was her sewing. She had her dining room corner transformed into a sewing corner. As far back as I can remember I always sat on her lap at the sewing machine. Or, we would sit with a needle and thread and sew fabric together. This woman could turn out quilts like no one's business! I still have several of her quilts; some are used while others are put up to preserve them. Many are hand sewn but all are hand quilted.
I get my love for sewing and cooking from her. I am so thankful for the little time I did get to know her. She died right before my 9th birthday on December 25, 1985.