Saturday, March 13, 2010

Grandma and Grandpa Olsen



I wish I could get these pictures a big larger, but I'm not smart enough. Any help would be appreciated.


This is a wonderful picture of my Grandma and Grandpa Olsen in the house in Moore. This picture was taken before February 1965 because that is when Grandpa died. That is Uncle Jim on the right side and I thought it was Carol on the left, but she wouldn't have been that big then, would she? Is that Jan? I was in third grade when Grandpa died, so Jan was older than that, Carol younger. Any help with which one of us it is would be great.

We spent every Sunday afternoon out to Moore, enjoying the fun of farm life. I remember playing in the hallway with all the doors closed, making it very dark. Remember the games in the hall closet? The rippled afghan on the chair was one of Grandma's creations. I think she had it forever. The purple furniture was not the softest in the world. I remember itching when I sat on it. I also remember the white pillow on the back of the couch. It was "tufted" I think they called it,...the fabric was tucked around the center with a big button in the middle.

The chairs were cold, white metal with black seats. I am sure they lasted forever. Grandma always had wonderful food. I don't remember if anyone brought food from Orangeville, or if Grandma just made it every week. She always had hot rolls, meat and potatoes, jello that melted when it touched the hot gravy.

Grandpa would always tease us unmercifully. He would cluck like a chicken and pull an egg out from under us...his kind of magic. He would tickle us and get us laughing so hard. He was a hard worker, always with his cows. He would let us go into the barn when he milked, if we stayed in the tank room when the cows came in. He knew every cow by name. He even named the cows for each of his grandchildren.

Grandma always wore an apron over her dress. She loved to have us visit with her. Later, when she moved to Orangeville, I would stop in and visit her on my way home from school.

Going to Grandma and Grandpa's was always fun.

3 comments:

mom o said...

I'm so glad that you posted about your memories of your Grandparents. I keep telling myself that I need to write down more of those memories I have. This may be the only way my children and grandchildren will even come to know these great people.

Sharon said...

Lori, the girl in the picture is me, a cute, skinny 5th grader. I wrote a little memory story a while back about playing post office (not kissing games, real post office, under the big dining table at the house in Moore, using things from Grandma's post office in the corner. The phone was on a little stand behind the front door. We also played hospital on the big front porch with the columns with the benched in between. They made great hospital beds. Of course, there was always the brown sewing basket full of empty medicine bottles and first aid supplies. I don't think we brought food from Orangeville, I think Grandma made it all herself. She was a great cook. Remember the burner on her stove that depressed down into the stove? I think that's where the mashed potatoes were made. That is a really good picture of Grandma and Grandpa. I'd love a copy. Good memories.

Grandma Labrum said...

Sharon, of course that is you! I think the blond hair threw me off a bit. Fits right in with the age. Post office was fun to play with all the post office things Grandma had. The light tan chair new the pot-bellied stove was where we would stuff the letters. The porch was the coolest place to play because of all the shade outside. I also loved the screen-in back porch. I forgot about the stove. Thanks for reminding me. The picture is on the flickr page that you can get to by following through this link http://www.ruewarememories.blogspot.com/ (Hope it copies right), then click on the flickr link on the right. Then you have to search through the pictures. Or you can just right click on my picture and save it to your computer.