Tecumseh news: May 9, 2018

I have enjoyed corresponding with my friend Elda Edwards at Ocie. She has been entertaining a Baltimore oriole at her hummingbird feeder. She said she hadn’t seen one in years. Friends in her garden club told her they were back, but she hadn’t seen any until the one showed up.
Elda has a buckeye tree that she thought had died, but it has bloomed--but with only one bloom at this time. Buckeyes used to be more plentiful, but nowadays we seldom see one.
She built a fence to protect her big Jerusalemn artichokes. She said the deer have been munching on her garden.
I’m really enjoying my irises this year. I have some yellow ones and pink ones in the front yard and different shades of purple farther away. I had set the bulbs out several years ago.
We lost a neighbor, Bill Napier, who died a few days ago. Sympathy to the family.
It’s good corresponding with Ginger Peters in New Jersey and to get her news from the East Coast. I also correspond with Mary Jo Siedling, who lives in Indiana. She started writing to me sometime ago and we became penpals. I also enjoy hearing from Peggy Jo Boone Walker in Nashville. She writes occasionally but also calls. Her mother, Mae, boarded with my family when she was teaching school at Lilly Ridge many years ago.
Another good friend, Alene Herd, encourages me through phone calls and letters. We have mutual friends, Dale and Joy Cutbirth, who also keep in touch.
We’re having to watch about burning trash as, at times, there is strong wind.
How many folks remember the cheese plant that was in Gainesville by Lick Creek? We still call the bridge there the Cheese Plant bridge. It was good to get the can of whey to feed our hungry pigs and mix with wheat shorts (bran) to make a good food for the pigs. As our family did not butcher beef animals then, the pork was most important for our survival, along with an occasional squirrel or rabbit.
My daddy had a woodworking shop, and he made what we called “rabbit gums,” which were traps. He also made slingshots so we could kill pesky birds that pecked our tomatoes in the garden.
My daughter Kris has been cleaning out my back yard and had a load of items hauled off to be disposed of. I can’t walk out there very much, but I can see from my window that it looks better back there.
I’m looking forward to having Mother’s Day dinner at Cookie’s with Bobby Grisham, who called and said he was coming after me and I could be his mother for the day. My daughter Kris and granddaughter are planning to be there too.
Happy Mother’s Day to all the other mothers out there.

Ozark County Times

504 Third Steet
PO Box 188
Gainesville, MO 65655

Phone: (417) 679-4641
Fax: (417) 679-3423