Inspired by CGN #1

This post is in response to CGN #1's post of Mar 16th - 13 Memories. In it she talks about her memories of her paternal grandmother. And it brought back memories of my Grammy. So here goes -
1.) Making Cookies - Mostly 'Wooden' (anise seed) cookies. It seemed like it would be out of the blue on a Saturday night, Grammy would ask if we would like to make cookies. We'd all go to the drawer in the breakfast nook and get hair nets and ask what we would get to do to 'help' mix the dough. Once the dough was ready it was time for serious work - deciding on which cookie cutters we would use. (It wasn't until a few years ago, making cookies with my own Grand's that I realized one of my favorite cutters was a fish.) And then waking up to the smell of fresh baked cookies. I usually gobbled a half dozen right out of the oven cause that was the only time they were soft enough to eat without total immersion in some kind of liquid - the warmer the better. But boy! were they good.
2.) I never, ever saw Grammy wear anything but a dress. I vaguely remember a few times in the winter when she put on a pair with her dress. I do, however, have a picture of her in overall's.
3.) Pinning her veil on over her bindilee at church. And feeding us SenSen to keep us quite during the sermon. Using her hankie to make a 'baby in the cradle' to keep our hands occupied.
4.) Grammy and Grampy on their bed, Grampy reading a letter from 'The Old Country' in German. I regret I didn't push to learn German to this day.
5.) Loading up the Rambler Wagon (which was a bit of a scandal when Grampy bought it as it wasn't the traditional dark color. It was CANARY yellow!)with bundles of newspapers and heading out the the weight station.
6.) Going to pick strawberries, gooseberries and raspberries. Picking apples and to make sure we'd return, having a old peanut butter jar full of hard candy close by. We'd take a piece of candy and wander off for awhile. When it was gone, we'd come back for another.
7.) When I was 5 I got chicken pox and was shipped off to Grammy's house so the younger siblings wouldn't catch it. It didn't work but I had 2 weeks of one on one with both of them. My most vivid memory was taking baths with baking soda to help stop the itching. However, Grammy wanted to save water, so she only drained the tub 1/2 way each time. Hot water and more baking soda would be added for the next bath. This worked out reasonable well until the cat decided that it wanted to eat. The cat was Aunty Linda's who was not living at home at the time. And it had reallllly looooog fur. Grammy forgot they feed the cat in the tub.... Aunty Linda happened to be home that night. All I have to say is A)Grammy was forgiven for trying to drown the cat and B)Thank goodness only the dining and living room had carpet.
8.)Christmas Pictures - we would be lined up on the stairs, in our matching nightgowns and be given candles. When it was time to snap the picture, Grammy would light the candles and Grampy would snap as many as he could in less than a minute so we didn't set ourselves on fire.
9.) How much she looked forward to meeting Oldest. Even before she was born, Grammy was calling Mom to ask about her.
10.) Harvesting the asparagus every year. It was planted next to the current's. Soon after the asparagus, the rhubarb would be in full growth and we'd have strawberry-rhubarb pie's for deserts.
11.) Making Uncle's favorite pie for his birthday. That would be an Onion Pie. Being a kid, I never asked to taste it but I wish I had cause I bet it would have been delicious.
12.) She had an electric stove and as a rule would set the burner on high 'for a quick start'. Sometimes she'd forget and we'd be cleaning up some interesting messes. Of course, there was the time she almost asphyxiated Mom while starting to make jam.
13.) How her lap was always available to snuggle in when I was tired or felt shy and needed to hide.
To this day, I miss her. I would have liked her to have met Youngest, The Boss and The Gift. I see so much of her in them. Her sense of wonder at the world and what it has to offer, her quiet ability to teach life's lessons and her ability to laugh along with other's when stories were told about her mishaps.

Thank you CGN #1 for inspiring me to write these few memories down.