Page 279 - Family cookbook v30_Neat

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About all I can say about the house, I believe it was 2 storied especially because there was a stairs behind a
wall. This wall had a hand crank telephone on it and a large fireplace. There was a porch all across the front of

the house.

Dad had 3 haystacks (conical or pyramidal stack, not bales stacked.) Just down from the house and he forbade us
to climb or slide down them. Rotten luck. They caught fire and completely burned.

Down a small hill behind the house in I guess you would call it a small ravine was a creek between our
property and our neighbor. I believe this creek was fed by the spring coming from a cave in the hillside. In
front of this opening was a large flat rock as big as a King size bed. And on this rock was a big black snake,
which Dad said keeps the spring clean because it kept varmints out of it. So we were forbidden to scare the
snake off.

On the banks of this creek or stream is where Dad and our neighbor had their “lassis” (Molasses) stir off. We
watched the old mule go around and around to grind up the cane. We watched the men chop wood for the

fire while others stirred the pot also one kept feeding cane to the grinder. They put the molasses in
large lard cans. Dad put some in one of the lids and continued to whittle small spoons for his boys so they
could sample their work.

When dad had the mule hitched to the plow, I remember walking behind him in the furrow which was half as
high as I was.

Dad had a matched pair of bird dogs one a setter and one a pointer. One day he took the dogs and me bird
hunting. After the dogs stirred up the birds, he fired
once and the dogs were off to where it dropped. Very

soon they came back carrying the bird.

Dad taught me to shoot his double barrel 12 gauge
shot gun. He laid the barrels over a fallen tree,
which I stood behind and he knelt behind. I stood halfway
up the length of the gun, Dad had the stock against his
shoulder, when he told me to pull the trigger it knocked

us both backward. This was my last lesson.

In this house there was a small hallway between the
kitchen and other rooms. In this hall was a small table
where Dad kept his tobacco and we were warned to
leave it alone. Now it was Dad’s habit after lunch to
pick up his tobacco and take a big chew before
returning to the fields. So one day after lunch I
followed Dad. Sure enough my hand could reach the
top of this table, so I took a big chew and swallowed
it. After turning green and throwing up, mother

turned my bottom red.