Irish Mammie

Knitting Is Fun

Knitting Trio, originally uploaded by mammiet.

Yesterday I went to my knitting group which was started a few years ago. We meet every two weeks or try to anyway. We started with my aunt, Christine, my cousin ,Ellen and myself. We sometimes bring our knitting and knit, sometimes bring our knitting and don't knit, and sometimes don't bring our knitting at all.
My sister Ann joined us a couple of years age and she fits right in cause she follows the rules,knit, bring bag and don't bring bag.

Sometimes my Uncle Billy visits with us but he tries mostly to stay away. We also have had drop-ins who come to see our latest projects. Thanks goodness they are all relatives who know we don't accomplish much.

Then comes the fun part, snacks. Coffee for Christine and I, water for Ann and tea for Ellen. We always have dessert and then knitting is over for the day.

I had good news in Boston and want to thank everyone who thought of me. This trip has been blogged many times so I don't want to bore you. Besides I don't like writing about this subject so I'll leave that to my kids.

Fezziwig

Fezziwig, originally uploaded by mammiet.

This is Fezziwig from "A Christmas Carol". The Fezziwigs always seemed to be having a good time as they danced. As I read this with my fifth graders it was one of my favorite parts of the story.
Anyway, Tut made it because I mentioned I would like to make a snowman on day but the snow wasn't sticky enough. On a day that it was sticky as I took a nap, he made one. He has much more of an imagination than I do so I held things as he decorated. Anyway I loved it.

Then the following  show the snow in Maine before the big storm we expect on Friday .

I know Grant and Daryl can't wait to get here!!!!

Wedding Fun

1977537534_f0c9131562_t.jpg, originally uploaded by mammiet.

This past week-end I attended a very special wedding. The festivities began on Thursday and lasted until Monday. First a friend of Suz,' Kate,came to her apartment and they figured out how the tables were going to be set. Kate was responsible for setting up for the reception. Then we went to a Pedicure, forget it, but I did manage to have a manicure, not fun. On Friday the Maine relatives arrived and we had a rehearsal and then Daryl had pizza for us all.

Sarah and Jim stayed up half the nite to bake for Jim's brunch celebrating Suz and Grant with some of his friends. The food was great. From there we went to an open house at Suz' and Grant's apartment and it was nice to all of their friends. Of course there was a 2 year old boy there whom I was accused of corrupting. 

We went to the Jubilee Singers concert which was fantastic. It was their 30 year anniversary and the church was filled.

On Sunday Jim, Sarah and I attended my favorite Catholic church in DC. It is a black church and this Sunday was children's Sunday which I loved. The kids were on the altar as a choir and did a great job.

Then came the wedding---it was the most meaningful ceremony I have ever attended. Shana did a fabulous job in her homily and related the whole thing to Grant & Suz. Jim did a reading also following the ideals of Grant & Suz. It is great to see people really follow their ideals--although I tease them a lot.

At the reception the food was good and I even was able to dance which was great. I think everyone had a fun time and I even danced with Johnny whom I probably hadn't seen since he called from Whippers and asked for a ride home.  It was good to see Dana and Robin and meet Dana's boyfriend. These are all high school friends of Suz. There was an 11 day old baby boy whom attended and  with his mothers even lit a candle. I got to hold him as much as I wanted.

On Monday everyone headed for Maine and I Stayed until Tuesday. On Monday nite I slept 13 hours --I wonder why??

This is one of my favorite photos.

 

Game Night

ann,maureen & I.jpg, originally uploaded by mammiet.

This past week I had many visitors including my sisters, Maureen (Moe) and Ann. We looked at a photo album that Maureen found somewhere and found pictures that were funny. I think the one we are laughing at is of me. 
Ann is four and a half years younger than I and I have many memories of her growing up. She always told me what she got me for Christmas which I thought was a riot. She is the crier and will cry at anything, like if I stubbed my toe she would take care of the crying.
Maureen was born when I was in the 7th grade so I loved taking her places if my mother would dress her in a certain dress. Then we would go to Fitzpatrick's house, Jane was a friend of mine, and she would go for the candy dish. Also Moe would pose for me in any way I asked.
We had a game night on Saturday where we played quarters and Balderdash and had a fun time. Quarters was mindless and Balderdash was too much thinking and Maureen won. Oh well.

Chris ,Sarah and Heather, Chris' girlfriend, also were there and that made it much more fun.  Heather is a great girl and most likely the cutest kid on the Colby campus. We know that Sarah has UMO locked up and Chris has Thomas.  It is nice to have cute grandchildren.

THE DORM

chris.jpg, originally uploaded by mammiet.

Today I went to visit Chris' dorm room and it was my first trip since I got out of the hospital.Granted it was only Waterville but it felt good to get out and most of the time was without oxygen. Anyway his room which he shares with JT, a friend of many years, is typical I suppose of any dorm room with a white rug which was wanted very much and even though he was told it wouldn't last long as white--I think he finally agrees but seems happy with it anyway. He is studying hard and after Jim checked a couple of his notes we were all satisfied that he is doing a good job.

The room is decorated well as you can see although I like the pictures of Heather and Chris that were scattered around the room. Anyway I had a nice day and Chris is the cutest kid on campus.

My Grandmother

scrapbook page, originally uploaded by mammiet.

Ellen J. Murphy was born on August 9, 1890 in Curraghboy,Youghal, County Cork. Ireland. Her mother was Hannah Greehy and her father was James Murphy. He was a farmer and came to America in his early twenties. He returned to Youghal and worked as a bricklayer. He and Hannah had twelve children. Maurice and Daniel stayed in Ireland and the others came to America and settled in Massachusetts. I do not know how Mammie ended up in Gardiner, Maine. She was called Mammie because that is an older mother or grandmother in Ireland.

Mammie was a typical Irish woman who lost her husband when her youngest,of five, was nine years old and then she took in washing to support her family. A Mr. Hodgkins brought his clothes on Monday to be washed. I can remember the white shirts but there must have been other things. I don't know if anyone else brought clothes to be washed but this was wash day and out came the wringer washer along with the rinse tubs. The clothes were put through the washer and then into the rinse tubs. The water was so hot she had to use a paddle to swish the clothes around. The rinse tubs had some blue stuff in them--maybe starch  or bluing ? I was warned not to get my hands near the wringer because my fingers would get caught. Then the  clothes were hung on the line, in winter as well as summer, she froze her hands every winter. How they must have hurt. There was also a pole of some sort to hold the line up when It got heavy.
When the clothes were dry or at the end of the day they were brought in,the shirts were stiff as a board,and put on racks to get the frost out. The clothes were sprinkled using an old bottle with a sprinkling cork in it, rolled up and put in a clothes basket ,covered with a damp cloth ready to be ironed the next morning.

On Tuesday she ironed everything. The clothes were ironed and folded and put away or hung for Mr. Hodgkins to pick up.I loved staying there on those days because she ironed my underwear and socks.I felt real special.

There were rules about hanging clothes such as : You had to wash the clothes line by running a damp cloth along the line, clothes had to be hung in a certain order, such as whites with whites, towels with towels, and shirts by their tails.

I remember many things about my grandmother such as her rocking me and singing Irish lullabies, doing the Irish jig and just loving me. I am sure she was a strong woman who did some things that were not the greatest but not to me. I am proud of her because she had the will to come to a new land,never to go to Ireland again,face hardships,and still be my Mammie. I loved her.

She died on December 8, l967 at age 77.

This poem reminds me of days with her.

”CLOTHESLINES”

A clothesline was a news forecast
To neighbors passing by.
There were no secrets you could keep
When clothes were hung to dry.

It also was a friendly link
For neighbors always knew
If company had stopped on by
To spend a night or two.

For then you'd see the fancy sheets
And towels upon the line;
You'd see the company tablecloths
With intricate design.

The line announced a baby's birth
To folks who lived inside
As brand new infant clothes were hung
So carefully with pride.

The ages of the children could
So readily be known
By watching how the sizes changed
You'd know how much they'd grown.

It also told when illness struck,
As extra sheets were hung;
Then nightclothes, and a bathrobe, too,
Haphazardly were strung.

It said, "Gone on vacation now"
When lines hung limp and bare.
It told, "We're back!" when full lines sagged
With not an inch to spare.

New folks in town were scorned upon
If wash was dingy gray,
As neighbors raised their brows,
And looked disgustedly away.

But clotheslines now are of the past
For dryers make work less.
Now what goes on inside a home
Is anybody's guess.

I really miss that way of life.
It was a friendly sign
When neighbors knew each other best
By what hung on the line!

Author Unknown

He Is the Cutest

My favorite picture, originally uploaded by mammiet.

Yesterday I went to Chris's graduation. It was  a nice ceremony and the kids did well on their speeches. I could have done without the horns and yelling but I guess it is a sign of the times.
There were some kids that I recognized  as being in Suz's class-  not many though.
Then we went to Mike and Mira-Su's for dinner with Chris and Heather. That was fun and Heather is a great kid  and I like her very much. 

Yesterday was also Erin's graduation and it was difficult not to be there but it couldn't be helped.

Good luck to both Chris & Erin!!

Hannah Plays Lacrosse

DSC00221.JPG, originally uploaded by mammiet.

Yesterday we went to watch a lacrosse game that Hannah played in.  She did very well and as we know nothing about lacrosse she was great. It was a lopsided game in which Yarmouth won by a lot but it was fun watching and taking pictures. This was a semi-final game so they will play again. It is funny but she was also the cutest player just like Chris.
Then we went to lunch and had a great time listening to Hannah's plans for the sumer. She is going out west for CIT training which sounds like a lot of fun. She is doing well in school and is busy all the time.  It is fun talking to my grandchildren and listening to their plans.

A Special Memorial Day

A week ago we went traveling with Suz and Grant. On Friday we went to Belfast and went into a few stores, like the yarn store which had the yarn Suz needed to make baby socks.  It was a very hot day and everyone was feeling the heat but we went on anyway. Suz and Grant went into the Green Store which was "right up their alley" . Then we visited  Fort Point which has a pier out into the ocean. On the way home we stopped at an ice-cream stand and had gigantic ice-creams,even Murphy.

The next day we went to the White Mountains and hiked the first ten minutes to Crystal Cascades. How is that Mike?  Suz hiked with her purse and she looked very nice. It was a pretty walk and we enjoyed it. Then we had a picnic
and Tut saw a lot of jack in the pulpits and he was thrilled. We stopped in North Conway and Grant found

a  Mt. Washington weather museum
and that made his day. It was interactive and he was able to ask all kinds of questions.

On the way home we stopped at the Nezinscot Farm  in Turner and took lots of pictures of the piglets and other baby animals.

Grant spent most of the week-end trying to get rid of the mosquitoes and buying thing like dandelions in the can. But we had fun anyway.

Then on Memorial Day we all enjoyed a cook-out made more special because Sarah and Chris brought Chris and Heather. It was a good week-end.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day. I had calls from Jim to wish me a happy  Mother's Day Eve although I didn't know we celebrated that. Daryl called and Suzanne and Grant called on their way to Grant's sister's graduation. Jim called from the car going to the beginning of a 40 mile bike ride again on Mother's Day. Mike gave me this pin which he made in the 2nd or 3rd grade and which I wore and got a couple of compliments. I am sure that I have other gifts stored away but I can't wear them and the plants have long since died.

We went to Mike's  and Mira Su's for our monthly meal which this time was a Mother's Day brunch. We enjoyed French toast stuffed with cream cheese, a wonderful fruit salad and fried asparagus  bunches tied with onions.  We had champagne  (fake) and coffee. It was a great meal and Mike is becoming a chef although I see some of Mira Su"s handiwork there. We also get to bring home left overs which is fun.

Then we left for Robbi's Mothers Day Sale which Mike has already talked about but I love going there and looking at all her pottery. I managed to come home with three pieces which seem to match the colors in my house. One of them doesn't match anything but it looked lonely and I can't stand anything to be left out. The animals were a lot of fun as being a city girl I love to watch animals. I really didn't get a chance to see any when I was younger. I did go visit a friend's farm when I was in high school but we were more interested in smoking down by the river than in the animals.I am sure I asked some real stupid questions about animals but they just laughed. Her father squirted milk directly from the cow into our mouths. YUK.

Then I went to Best Buy to find the camera that Tut bought me for Mother's Day. I naturally bought a better one than the one that was on sale and it is PINK. I don't think I have ever had anything pink before and am not sure I like this either but they talked me into it. I think they felt that here was this gray haired lady and we can get rid of these cameras. Here is the first picture I took.

All in all I had a nice day!