Winter

Winter

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Today On Saturday


I have been meaning to post this picture for awhile.
It is a picture of my Great grandmother. She is on the left
Her name was Alice and her sister on the right was named
Florence, but we called her Flossie. My great-grandmother
went to college and taught school. She was always a great
reader and she told me one that she read the book Ivanhoe
once a year. She also loved Scottish Chiefs. Her grandmother
was born coming to America, in a hold of a ship from Scotland.

Her parents, Mr and Mrs Robbins were first cousins and left their
family and moved west. They did not grow up knowing each other,
one brother lived on one side of a mountain and she lived on the other.
They left Virginia and moved to Paul's Valley Oklahoma.

She was always a strict kind of woman. My grandmother, always had
one of us in her lap, but I couldn't imagine crawling up in Granny Hayes lap.
She grew the most beautiful flowers. She went to a barbershop to get haircuts.
So her hair was always extremely short. She also dipped snuff.
It had to be triple 000 snuff. In a brown bottle. She would spit into
old cans with their labels removed. They were always clean and drying
in the kitchen. She would take a dip about 11:00 in the morning just before
she had supper. I would sit and watch. It always amazed me to watch her spit.
She would put it in front of her bottom teeth resting the can there. My Mom threatened death if I ever so much thought of dipping snuff.

She had a dressing table in her room. One day I was looking at what was there
and in a glass plate was some glasses and some change and they looked as if
the had been welded together. I asked her what it was and she told me, that,
On July 14, 1919, her father Zachery Robbins was out in the fields trying to get
the hay in before a storm. It started thundering and lightening. As he went
to crawl through a barbwire fence lighting struck and the electricity traveled
down and hit him. The stuff on the dresser had been what was in his pocket
at the time. She let me hold them and they were black maybe with age, but
the glass in the glasses wasn't broken. I have always wondered what happened
to them after she died.

I came in to do another kind of post today but I ran across this picture when I was
looking for something else. I wish now, that I might have known her from the vantage
point I am at now. She might not have seemed so remote now. I might have understood
her ways better.
Just something I thought I would share on this Saturday.

Have a lovely day,
~Kim~

19 comments:

Meg said...

Hehe, I've always loved the story about the grandma who did snuff. Scandalous! ;)

TexWisGirl said...

she looks like a pistol in that picture. :) God bless her and all those tough women like her!

Patrice said...

Sounds like a strong woman!I like old photos. I need to scrape some up and see if I can scan them.
Hope you're having a good weekend!

Unknown said...

WOW this post is soo cool - I have always said I want to grow up to be an old man because people think old men are neat whether they are mean and crotchity or nice - but I think I want to grow up to be just like your Grandma (well minus the snuff)! Really cool that you knew her!

http://jentsfrontporch.blogspot.com/

Janettessage.blogspot.com said...

What a lovely post and how wonderful you have such vivid memories....my great-grandmother dipped snuff...not my grandmothers.
Great photo..reminds me of all the ones I have of my mother-in-law will be 96 next month...of the tales they all can tell

http://bitsandpieces-sonja.blogspot.com/ said...

What a neat post Kim! I think you are right... we would probably have much more in common with those wonderful women today than we did some years ago.

My hubby's grandmother dipped snuff too. I had never seen that till we moved to Texas. She had a coffee can with the labels off too. She also had lived from the days to horse and buggy to jet airplanes. Pretty amazing!

Happy weekend!
xo

Kim said...

Cool picture. I adored my grandmother (she didn't do snuff hehehe). She used to tell me how happy she was that we were close because she dislike her grandmother so much. She told me that was why she tried so hard to be a good grandma.

Sue said...

Happy Saturday Kim,...
This was such a fun read, my maternal grandmother dipped snuff, and would never let herself get out of it. Lol. Sometimes when she would spit she would put two fingers up to her lips and spit through them, I thought that was the coolest thing. lol I always enjoy reading about family memories and history. Love the photo too.
Well dear Kim I will go and read about what you have been doing this week.
I do miss you,
Hugs,
Sue
Enjoy your day.

no spring chicken said...

What a marvelous picture. And how wonderful that you have such memories and stories. I especially loved the way you described her dipping snuff and spitting. Something that would be so shocking today makes for a great tale. It's so wonderful to have the legacy of family memories!

I know what you mean about having a different perspective on things now that we are 'all grown up'.

Blessings, Debbie

Kessie said...

Isn't it neat how your perspective on people change? Also, I can see the family resemblance in that picture. That's amazing. :-)

Simple Home said...

I just love this kind of post. I really enjoy looking at old photos, and hearing the stories behind them. I think it's wonderful that you knew your great-grandmother. I never even met maternal grandmother, she died before I was born. I'm pretty sure she didn't dip snuff though :-) Cute story!
Blessings,
Marcia

Sassafras and Winterberry said...

I love that you shared such great stories about your gram. I love the melded pocket stuff. And of course, who can resist a grammy who dips snuff! I adored both my grandmas...I was a lucky girl.
Courtney

Jacque. said...

I love your stories! Thank you so much for sharing with all of us.

Julia said...

Kim, I love your stories, and today's story is pretty cool. I wonder if she would have smoke weeds then if it was in style, he,he.

I love both my grandmothers and I've found good in both of them even as a little child. One was so generous even though she had nothing to give and the other one was more classy and but always had time for us. No dipping snuff though. JB

Dog Trot Farm said...

What a wonderful post, I just love looking at old photos and learning the history that goes along with them. I owe you an e-mail, hope things are well at "My Field of Dreams", your friend from Maine, hugs, Julie.

Dawn said...

Oh how I love this type of post...reminiscing! Such wonderful memories and thoughts- and that photograph is wonderful. Says so very much but keeps so much hidden....
Have missed you and all blogger friends.....it's hard to catch up after being away and busy with kids! Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

annie said...

That was a great read! Sounds like some kind of lady! Love the picture. I have a family cookbook given to me of some Speers/ Robbins out of Duffield VA, also was once related through my brother's marriage to some Robbins out of Lee County, VA. You never know they might have been distantly related to her! Thanks for sharing.

Denise said...

Thank you for sharing a little of your family history.....I love learning things about my family and love looking at old photos.

I agree that it would be interesting to know them from our current vantage point, I sure would ask lots more questions.

Larkrise garden girl said...

A family history and the retelling of stories is what keeps everyone loved ones alive. Your telling of her story was so well done that she came to life for all of. Thanks for sharing, Cheri