After two months of crazy fridge troubles. Instigated by the
33 hour power outage in August my fridge, two years younger than
my blog died. Almost verbatim the way my last fridge died after
a 32 hour power outage in 2008! With attempts to repair it,
and almost two hundred dollars in parts and probably
equal that in ice to keep our food cold.
33 hour power outage in August my fridge, two years younger than
my blog died. Almost verbatim the way my last fridge died after
a 32 hour power outage in 2008! With attempts to repair it,
and almost two hundred dollars in parts and probably
equal that in ice to keep our food cold.
Yesterday we finally got our new fridge, this time with
an ice maker, thank goodness! Our fridge is pretty
bare which reminded me of this story posted in 2008!
 |
| Grumpy Bear and his friend, original acrylic, chalk, watercolor crayons! |
 |
| Colour altered digitally! |
But
as always I digress. Words entered in my diary were read with ire, by my father. I
felt pretty sheepish about disappointing him. Mom decided to ship me to
her best friend’s house the rest of that summer. It was a posh
home, with a pool. Everyday I tanned by the water reading true story magazines, prohibited at home! It wasn’t much of a
punishment. I babysat Sherry’s girls; we swam, talked and listened to
music.
Sherry, moms best friend, my namesake, with a different spelling, was more hip than mom. She lived a pretty swank life, up on
the latest fads she was very stylish! She took me shopping, bought me a funky gray jumper, shorter
than mom would have allowed. I remember finally feeling like I was mod.
She'd dance with us girls to the latest pop music. It was so much fun there. A different atmosphere than I was accustomed to!
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| I can't even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed creating Grumpy bear and his friend! |
Most evenings, after a day of hairdressing mom rushed to slip into
her house dress to start dinner. She cooked nightly meals and spent
the bulk of her time in the kitchen. Except on the occasional busy
Saturday
when dad picked up take out chicken. Even then she'd
prepared a salad
to accompany it! A soup simmered on the back
burner
of our stove more often than not! Sherry who didn’t work
spent her days either shopping or visiting with friends! It was
common place to order in most nights. I do remember
common place to order in most nights. I do remember
her specialty being spaghetti. Even though she could cook,
she just didn’t bother!
I
admired how beautiful Sherry was. Very cute at well under five feet
tall, the epitome of the Valley of the Dolls era! I loved her laugh
and smile. They had a housekeeper, outside of picking up after myself there were only a few dishes to clean up! Whereas at home I did a whole gamut of daily chores, and dishes galore! It was a
nice holiday for me being there, except for one thing.
 |
| Digital #happytilerthoughts! |
When I opened
the fridge it was bare. Not even a pickle,
no cheese, no jam, no
condiments whatsoever, nothing!
Our definition of a bare fridge would
still include a selection
of pickles, cheese, eggs, fruit, and all the
condiments.
I could make a peanut butter and jam, or pickle and cheese
sandwich in a pinch. The cupboards were pretty much the
same. Although they were
wealthy, with many luxuries,
they had no food. Where as we had very average
lifestyle
with a house full of food and love!
What early childhood life lesson did you learn that you still remember today?
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| Digital work by Happytiler |
41 comments:
I always have food in my fridge and store cupboard, don't like to have to run to the shops each time I want to eat. Hope your new fridge lasts a looooong time and gives you years of good service. Happy PPF, Hugs, Valerie
Interesting story. How did your mom feel about your too short grey jumper when you went home?
The thing I most remember about my childhood is that change is good. My father was in the Air Force so we moved often. My Mom loved it and encouraged us to try new things, foods, etc. every time we moved. She still loves to travel to this day at age 94! I live alone, but always have food in the fridge, in fact have to curb my buying so that I don't waste things if they stay around too long. There are always all the condiments as your said, but also always apples, mandarins or oranges, and bananas. Plus a green veggie like spinach or broccoli and carrots, tomatoes, eggs and maybe a sweet potato, too!
I love your purples and oranges for Halloween and the sneaky cute look on the little guys face!
My mom, like yours, cooked and kept a stocked fridge & cupboards! As an only child, I helped with various chores, & that was just expected! My dad & I alternated drying dishes, which my mom washed after EVERY meal! (I'm more a 'once a day is good) gal.
This summer, I thought my fridge had conked out, as things were thawing when I got up one morning - so I quick gathered stuff up, & took it over to my daughter's where I babysat, & stowed it in their freezer (& a few things in the fridge!) ... but when I trouble shot - realized I hadn't cleaned the fridge coils, well, as long as I'd had it!! Not the 'every 6 months' as suggested!! So as soon as they were 'defuzzed' (& the cardboard 'air intake holes' ... the fridge began cooling things again (& runs MUCH quieter!) whew!
Most of the folks I visited also had food on hand & cooked from scratch, that was the 50s & 60s. I stayed with 3 cousins for a week or so each summer, & there was always a good spread! We alternated holiday meals (Thanksgiving, Christmas & N Y) & always ate well!
Happy PPF!
Your Grumpy bear and his friend are adorable. Enjoy your other paintings, too.
Happy Halloween xx
I store not much things in our fridge the most of the time ( if you ask my daughter) but enough to survive -lol!
Super art this week again!
Happy Halloween! Good luck with the new fridge!
oxo
Susi
Love grumpy bear and his friend...super work. Happy PPF
Grumpy bear and his friend gave me a laugh! But I love the Halloween pumpkins. My mom, a SAHM, kept an immaculate house and full stocked fridge and freezer. She cooked all our meals, taking pride in her baking skills. Being the tomboy that i was, I wasn't interested in learning how to keep house. I wanted to be in the garage with my dad. He taught me to, "measure twice and cut once". A lesson I use frequently!
Grumpy bear and his friend is sweet.About the lesson...well it was dictatorship during my childhood and I remember my father used to bring home a newspaper which was against the system.We used to read it in the dark far from any witness otherwise we could be arrested and you know what will happen.My father taught me to be free even in cage.He taught me I should never resign to the circumstances no matter how hard they were.My father gave me wings. I miss him so much!Happy PPF, my friend!
So pleased you have the fridge situation sorted. What a relief. Childhood lesson? One very important one from my dad. 'There is no room in our house for quitters ' a favourite saying of his which has stuck with me. You didn't give up either with the fridge fiasco!
Ah, now I will be thinking about childhood advice all week!
Enjoyed your story, sounds like a great time in your mother's friend's house.
One of my mother's best advice, was "Don't wait for your ship to come in, go out and meet it" although she was the last person to take this advice.
I like grumpy bear, he reminds me of someone I know (who isn't grumpy).
I feel insecure if my fridge is empty like that-:) I love to fill them with a variety of food stuff as I never know when I will be in the mood to cook.
Your art this week looks fabulous.
Happy Weekend
Hugs
Susan
Hugs; you'll soon get through those fridge woes
Happy PPF
much love...
Sherrie, thanks for the enormously encouraging comment on my blog today. We all need that lift every now and then. Your post today is awesome. Except for the empty refrigerator, it sounds as if your punishment was really a fun time. I am sorry about your own refrigerator going after so few years. Aren't things made to last anymore? I got a new one about 4 years ago, but the old one was almost 20 years old. Yours must have something to do with the power outage. Have a happy weekend.
Interesting blast from the past! I wonder why that rich family had no food? I guess they were diet fanatics.
Glad you have finally got a new fridge.
What I learnt from childhood? That orange soda was a lot tastier when it was full of additives. Zing
Love your funky Hallowwen pieces especially and enjoyed reading you summer of 69, it sounds like a coming of age story! A bare fridge is simply shocking, I should go clean mine out.
Lovely art this week. Life lesson from my mom "never go out without lipstick on, you never know who you might run in to".
fun work! The grumpy does make one smile!
Good luck with your new fridge and mine is at times loaded while bare at other times!(but mostly full!) :)
Happy PPF!
I enjoyed reading your story and your grumpy bear is adorable.
I love grumpy bear...and all your animal art! Interesting how different people's childhood's are!
It is a nice play to change the colours of the same painting.They look so cute.I enjoyed reading through your story. Here, in our house it was always homemade food.And yes, keeping the cupboards full somehow was important.I guess it rubbed on me, i love to cook.It simply makes me feel i am feeding myself and my loved ones more healthy.
It's weird that your fridges die everytime there's a long power outage. I didn't think that could "kill" a fridge.... Good that you finally got a new one, and I'm sure it'll be filled with delicious things in no time :-) That holiday doesn't really sound like a punishment, but I must say I cannot imagine never cooking and ordering in every night. I don't really like to cook, but bought food just doesn't really taste the same as a home-cooked meal. Guess I got that from my childhood too :-)
Love your drawings this week. I really like your animal art and the spooky picture too! We have a big green fridge, which needs to be kept well stocked, as we have our two grown-up children still living with us. Our daughter works long hours in a London department store and she gets very hungry! Hope your new fridge lasts well and gives you good service! xx
love your post as always. Sounds like you had a blast at your mom's friend's house, but darn!! Not even a peanut butter and jelly sandwich? What a bummer! I always have to make sure there's something around to fall back on if the power goes out or i haven't gotten to the grocery store. sardines and crackers?
glad you got your new frig. hugs!!
Hi Sherry. Awesome remembrance you've just shared. I always have food in fridge and in the pantry. Sometimes too much and then I think of the people who don't have food and start feeling guilty. Our frig at home when I was young was most of the time bare, unfortunately. We'd squabble about who got the last drink of milk and sometimes put water in the bottle to finish it off. Times were hard and my dad worked hard but we had little. Now that I am over the hill so to speak, I think of those days. Loved your work, always awesome.
Always love seeing your art - in all the colorways. Loved your story about staying with your mom's friend! How fun!
Great to see your artwork as usual but I love to read your tales.
I often get teased when there is a space on the fridge shelf... "like of the fridge is bare - look"
There's always masses of food and often fresh baking to boot!
I'm one of life's feeders and everyone gets at least a cup of coffee or tea when they come to call.
Have a wonderful week xoxo
Love your bears and your story of your childhood. Reading the comments left by others really makes me appreciate my "middle class American" upbringing. Traditional with a strong Christian influence has flavored my life significantly today. Often we don't appreciate our own circumstances until we later learn of the circumstances of others. I greatly appreciate how my parents raised us three kids and how we all turned out to be very opinionated and involved people in our communities today.
I'm sorry to hear about your fridge, ours is making suspicious noises right now... Love the bear art! Happy Halloween!
Dear Sherrie, what a story about your "holiday" back then! Isn't it strange how different worlds we live in, even if we are neighbors? I just met an earlier neighbor and friend today, who told me about her sister, who fled from her violent husband this summer, so sad what some people have to endure.
If our fridge at home was empty, when I was a child it was only because we really didn't have any money left to buy the most rudimental food. We had a few periods, when there really was only bread and ketchup or soft cheese to eat. It must have been terrible for my mother! For me/us children it was mostly irritating, the real worries lay on my mother's shoulders.
I have learnt to appreciate the things we have today, though I tend to forget, just how hard the times were at times.
Sending you my best wishes and hugs
Ilona
I love your grumpy bear and buddy...SO cute! I surely do love reading your posts, too. :D
Your story brought back a memory... I grew up in a quiet, Japanese household. I certainly did not fit in! I was very energetic and curious, much to the chagrin of my parents. My best friend in Jr. Hi was a feisty Italian girl named Angie. Visits to her house were the polar opposite of my quiet household. People speaking loudly, arguing, laughing, eating, cooking. Why are you so skinny? Mrs. Damico would ask me. Don't your parents feed you? Eat, Eat Eat. And she wouldn't take no for an answer. I loved it there, so different from my home.
Thanks for the memories!
Happy Halloween! Sorry about the fridge Eek! Love your faces :) Thank you for linking up to Show Your Face and for the shout out too. Kx
Great story and of course art to go with. My cupboards are stocked as is the fridge. So many life lessons. One is to love and laugh no matter how much you have or don't have.
Nicole/Beadwright
Lovely paintings and colors! :)
I learnt that I shoul not walk away.. when I was small.. if my mom or dad thought they had a clue were I was, at same time as two minutes ago, I really was not there.. I was so querios to discover the world around me and always in a hurry - haha - that I often walked away. Once I fell in a pond, deep enough to drown.. but I managed to get up from it. Another time as I was about three and a half yrs old I walked away with a dog in the forest and walked as far I could.. then my parents were afraid I really had drowned - but no.. They found me taken care of some kind people in a house miles away :))
Loved hearing the story of the Summer of 69. Mine wasn't quite as exciting as yours was I was 14 and pretty shy. enjoyed all your art this week,
Kate
Wow. Your mom's "punishment" sounds pretty awesome to me. ;) Except of course for the empty fridge. Mine is always full. Some would say too full. But rarely does anything go to waste. Thanks for sharing your Summer of 69 story. Loved it. xx
thanks for sharing the story and your grumpy friends :) Love the editing and think all colors suites the bears :)
OMGosh, I thought So. FL was the only state with a 3rd world power company. YIKES! They surge me until all my appliances go out regularly (i.e. DAILY). My poor Fridge is only 10 years old and sounds like it's on a runway. Whew! Love the 2 pups. Blessings, Janet PPF
I love this story. The differences in places and people and your love for your own home. I had much the same situation at home and I raised my kids to bring their friends here. I fed everyone which endeared me to the good kids and the not so good! Lovely remembrances you brought to mind.
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