My Home By Vera W. Hardy
I always thought my home was the best home in town, I thought we had the best location, not too close to things and not to far away. We were right in the middle of town. Papa had built our home. First he built the kitchen and dining room which was used for an all purpose room. Then he added on a big living and then the two bedrooms, I can remember when he added on a bedroom for mama and papa and a wide hall.
After Eldon went away to college we rented the two large bedrooms. Myrtle and I moved into the bedroom upstairs. 1 loved that room. It was always cozy and warm in winter because a long stove pipe came up through it from the bedroom downstairs, They always seemed to have a fire in their heater so it was always warm and cozy.
I remember the spring house cleaning days. Walls were painted windows washed and fresh new straw was put under our home made rug carpet. I can just hear it crackle as we walked across it. The fresh corn husks in our bed ticks. The beds were always so high and soft and we would sink down in them when we jumped into bed.
I remember when we became rich enough to have a store bought carpet for our front room, I can still see that room. I thought we had the most beautiful room I had ever seen. With the new carpet, the beautiful wallpaper with flowers and ribbon streamers going up it, white lace curtains at our two windows and two soft plushy axminster rugs. It was elegant.
One throw rug went in front of the organ, the larger one in front of the fireplace over the hearth. We used a heater instead of the fireplace as the fireplace smoked and the heater gave off much more heat. We had a couch, the organ, a bookcase, a closet to hold our winter coats, a mantle over the fireplace that held our clock and our few prized knick-knacks. Mama’s and Papa’s rocking chairs, and Mama’s machine. Our room was well furnished, we thought. Soon after this we got a new bedroom set and then a new dining set. So we thought we were pretty well off. We also bought a new Phonograph.
We had a large cistern that was filled in the spring when the snow water came down, this had to last us all summer. It was cool and good tasting for drinking water. We had barrels we filled each morning from the ditch to use for washing, bathing, scrubbing and cooking.
It wasn’t long until papa built a large tank at the top of our lot and piped the water into our house. Then he put a large cement porch across the front of our house. Then he put cement walks around the house and out to the front gate. Mama always had two beautifull flower gardens on each side of the walk with a beautiful lilac bush in the center of it.
Every kind of flower that could be grown in our town was in mamas flower garden all in neat rows. At the back of the house we had a big vegetable garden. Be had pear, apple and pomengranate trees and a big vineyard over the side of our house. Out back of our house was a granary that held our grain, melons, pomegranates or anything we wanted to store.
Papa built a shed so we would have a good place to get out of the weather to wash. He built a big long work bench under this shed where he could work and mend things. In fact I thought we had a pretty nice home. I loved it and the family that lived in it.
Source: Brent Bunker