In response to The Daily Post writing prompt “Our House”
Our house, was a very, very, fine house, I thought. The center of my world….a small, white frame house surrounded by a picket fence sitting under a huge shade tree. For many years it was a three-room house till Daddy added two bedrooms and a screened-in back porch to accommodate his growing family. I played in the deep, soft sand with my brother and sister on hot summer days. Honey-colored pine floors warmed the rooms, walls covered in cedar paneling. Yellow and green tiles in an alternating pattern covered the kitchen floor. The stove, with a pan of left-over biscuits for snacks, its door propped up with a stick, stood at one end of the kitchen, the refrigerator at the other, while cabinets ran along the outside wall. We all crowded around a red dinette set with a high chair pulled alongside. Mother’s wringer washer and the big deep freeze were housed on the screened-in back porch that had been pressed into service as a makeshift utility room. She suffered terribly doing her wash in the cold till the screens were covered with heavy plastic coated hardware wire and a space heater was installed. Clothes hung on lines strung across that room on rainy days. Our house was noisy with the shrieks of children at play, my mother’s laughter, and the joy of rowdy children. It was unusually scattered and looked like a tornado had ripped through not ten minutes after Mother finished cleaning.
The house was cold in winter, hot in summer, though the big attic fan lulled us to sleep on hot summer nights. On sunny days, leafy shadows danced on my bedroom walls and floor. Sometimes on hot days, I napped stretched out on the cool pine floors. Other times, I slept on a pallet of quilts with my cousin when company stayed nights.
Mother got up before we did to light the space-heaters that inadequately heated the house. We’d back up to the heaters and roast our behinds while our fronts chilled till the house finally warmed up.
A wonderful two-story barn filled with hay stood in the barnyard behind the house. On rainy days, we raced out to play in the barn, never to be held captive indoors. It was heaven to play in the stalls and climb in the loft to build forts in the hay. On fine days, we were free to roam the pastures and woods. We climbed trees and dropped off on the backs of cows dozing in the shade, for short but exciting rides. Sometimes we were lucky enough to lure a horse close enough to a fence to get on his back and get a bareback ride till he tired of us. My brother still has a grudge in at me for jumping off as the horse headed into a stall, leaving him to be scraped off by the low roof. It was a perfect way to grow up.
It pains me that today that house is about to fall down.
Love this!!
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Thanks!
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Oh, what wonderful memories. I always loved Grandma’s house and the old barn out back. Those were the only good memories we had of carefree times. Much like yours. Grandma’s place is still standing but also in great disrepair. I should have bought it when I had the chance. Maybe someday.
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Don’t you wish you could vacation in your past.
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Yes, I do.
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When love fills the home inside and out, childhood is a wonderful thing no matter how poor you are. Loved this. xoxo
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Thanks.
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It’s very sad to see the house that you grew up in and loved be left unloved and falling apart.
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Sure is!
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Reblogged this on Nutsrok.
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I love this house. You describe it so well, I feel like I have seen it.
My husband’s family’s Big Blue House is currently in foreclosure, and we are all anxiously awaiting its sale, because my sister-in-law wants to buy it. She would be third generation. My MIL doesn’t think she’ll be happy there, but then, that’s because she sold it. Any of her kids and grandkids would be happy there. It’s the house with all the memories ❤
I am sorry your memory house is falling down, but I am so glad you have the memories still.
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Hope it works out. There’s nothing like a well-loved house.
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Thank you for sharing our hope 🙂
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Good luck
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This, right here, is exactly why we are enduring a remodel and rodents…so my childhood home won’t be taken back by nature. I love this house, so much. It sounds like yours was very similar. The memories will never leave, though. ❤️
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Always in my mind, heart, and writing.
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It sounds a wonderful house to grow up in. I love the fact that it was filled with your mum’s laughter and the noise of ‘rowdy kids;’ How sad that it is about to fall down now, but at least your memories will remain. 🙂
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In my memories, dreams, and writing.
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Sounds like such an idyllic place you grew up in. All things are transient. What is wonderful are the memories you take with you. It was a loved place. Thank you for sharing such a beautiful phase of your life!
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You are welcome. That house is as good as ever in my dreams and memories.
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It is totally understood!
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Thoughts of cold winters with inadequate heat gives me the chills. Brrr. The description of your house, family and the fun kid times are wonderful and bring back memories of my own. Too bad your old house is falling down, but it did it’s job. I feel sorry for your mom doing the wash in the porch in winter before the space heater, though it probably didn’t help too much. ❤ ❤ ❤
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Actually, with that heavy plastic screening and the space heater, that porch was so warm she left the kitchen door open to take advantage of the extra heat.
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That sounds a lot better. I had no idea.
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I really made her life better.
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I bet! 😀
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Cows, Horses, woods, barn full of hay, playing outdoors, shade trees and picket fences…you had an idyllic childhood, Linda. Thanks for sharing the memories.🏡🌳🌳🐄🐎🏡 ❤️
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I loved running wild there. We just had to be close enough to hear the car horn when Mother wanted us.
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Such awesome memories😊
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Yes they are.
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🙂
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I’m getting ready to move out of the house I grew up in, then it will no longer be in the family. Bitter sweet.
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Oh it is. Hope you are going to somewhere good.
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I think it will be.
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Good.
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Beautful! Your memories of your house are so warm and loving. The nostalgia of a simpler time…it really makes me want to buy a cabin in the woods somewhere and never look back lol love you story 🙂
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Thanks. It was a good way to grow up.
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