Super seamstress

My mom used to make a lot of our clothes when we were young girls. She would a lot of times make us matching outfits. It was fun to go with her to the store to pick out the pattern and the material. She would pick out what ever else was needed. She would begin to sew. We had to try several parts on and let her check her progress. She would have the outfit done before we knew it. She would sewat night in order to get it done faster. She did her best work when she did not have us watching all the time. Some times we would go to slep and wake up to a completed outfit. She usually made the same color for Sue and I. She would make a red outfit for Karen. She would also make 3 different colors, some times. Pink for me, blue for Sue and red for Karen.

Three day choir dress

I was in a youth choir in my church. One day, my sister saw how much fun I was having in this group so she wanted to join. She also joined the choir. We were having a concert really soon. My grandmother had 3 days in which to make a long dress and a piafore. The dress was red and white checks. The piafore, which really was the icing on the cake was white. The fabric had little openings in it so you could see the dress. My Grandmother had more time than my mom, so this is why she made the dress. She worked really fast and had the dress made right before the choir concert. We enjoyed being in this group together. I liked having my sister sing with me. The rest of the activities were fun too. Even the money raising projects were fun because we did car washes.

 

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Watching Jaws 2

I remember going to the theater, by myself and watching Jaws 2. I had not seen the first one,but I was picking out a movie I thought I would like. This was a scary movie. I ended up seeing the first Jaws. This was good too. I remember walking home after the movie and felt a bit scared after that. They endd up making 4 Jaws movies. Jaws 3 is my favorite. It was filmed at Seaworld. The movie starred Dennis quaid, one of my heart throbs at the time. It was fun going to the movies. It was one of my favorite Saturday past times. Jaws 2 had a water skiing scene where there was an explosion. Kids would ride around in sal boats. The movie was set in Amity Island. I enjoyed this one second. I still watch all of the Jaws movies when they are shown. The ending to this Jaws was done by the Chief of Police in a very small boat. The kids were relieved to see the shark explode, since he was such a huge thing. It’s just a movie, but people have to be careful around sharks.

Back yard pool

When I was living on Trask, we had a pool in our back yard. This was an above ground pool. My dad was able to get it for us from his part time landscaping job. He did this job right across the street from our house. When he put it in, he put a clear tent on it during the cold and windy times in order to keep it cleaner. People thought we had a circus tent in our back yard. My mom and I used the pool the most. We had to put a fence up for safety reasons. My brother and his friends used to jump off of the roof right into the pool. We had ots of neighbor kids in the pool. It was always a nice time in the pool. I even wanted to spend the night floating around in the pool. My mom said no, of course. We had friends over for parties also. My sister Karen even brought some friends over. They brought food to share with every one. We would have cook outs and use the pool. I some times liked to swim by myself and just relax after a long day.

Diving for scallops

There is a delicacy out in the ocean called scallops. People go diving or snokeling for these. The meat inside is pretty small, so it takes a lot of them to make a nice portion. They have a bit of a sweet taste to them. My brother brought home a huge cooler full of them one time. We helped him shell the scallops. My mom fixed them with a beer batter and then fried them. I have had them in many restaurants also. They are very tasty. You have to watch out for them. Some times people substitute sting ray for scallops. Scallops are small and almost a round shape. Scallops are good dipped in a seafood sauce or cocktail sauce. My brother had fun diving for the scallops, then bringing them home for all of us to enjoy. It took a lot of scallops to feed our family of five.

7-up cake and Texas Tornado cake

There are two kinds of cakes out there I remember having when I was a young girl. The first one was a 7-up cake. This cake had a really smooth taste. The 7-up gave it a vey nice taste to it. I think you can find a recipe on line. There is another cake called Texas Tornado. This is made with Fruit cocktail. This is the only fruit cake that I like. I do not care for the traditional holiday fruit cake that is made with candiedfruit. Texas Tornado is moist and delicious and great with coffee. We got the recipe from a friend of my dad’s. We would make it for several different occasions.

Dream trip to Hawaii

I have always wanted to go to Hawaii. I think it would make for a beautiful place to relax and to have fun. My dad was stationed in Hawaii when he was in  the Army. He even got his parents to go there and to live there for a while when he was there. Hawaii has some really beautiful spots to see. He even took his wife there. They went on a cruise to Hawaii. This would be a great way to go, but I would want to stay on the Island for a week or two and see as much as I could. Hawaii has volcanos too. I would not want to be too close to one if it erupted though. They have Hula dancers in Hawaii also. I learned a hula dance a long time ago. I would like to go to Hawaii and learn to hula dance with a true native of Hawaii. My friend Donna was born in Hawaii. They also have Luaus. These are big Hawaiian night parties, with lots of food and dancing. If I do get a chance to go and have the funds I will make my dream trip come true.

love for chocolate!

We have a family o chocolate lovers. Chocolate cake was a main choice for birthday cakes. For a treat, my dad would bring home Malted milk balls. We all liked these a lot. M n M’s were  favorite also. My mom made many chocolate desserts. My dad’s favorite cake was Devil’s food cake. We had a rich dessert called chocolate dream. A meringue crust with nuts. The filling was chocolate coolwhip with nuts. This was a very rich dessert. I used to love little Debbie devil twins. One day sue traded me a box of these treats for an extra week in the top bunk. I took the deal because I wanted the chocolate. Some times I would hide chocolate in my room. My sister always found it though. I would tell her we must have a chocolate loving mouse. She thought I would have the chocolate sitting around too long, so she would take it and enjoy it.

Family potato salad

We had a delicious family Potato salad. My mom would marinate the potatos in a sweet French dressing for several hours and then add, onion, celery , miracle whip, lemon pepper and mustard. She would also put hard boiled eggs on top. These were sliced and made a very nice garnish. She would add paprika for color. We took this salad to all of our family picnics. Many friends of ours liked the potato salad also. They would ask us to bring it to many barbeques also. This potato salad tasted particularly good with Hamburgers on the grill. I have tried potato salads on the market and I find this one the best since this is what we grew up on and also liked. There are many different ways to make potato salad, but I will stick to this particular family recipe. My husband and one of our neighbors liked it also.

running on the beach

When Sue was in school she joined the Cross country running team. There were a lot of places that they would run. I remember one run she did on a beach in Tampa. She said this was a challenge. They ran over some rough terrain some times. Running on the beach is a challenge, because it isn’t all smooth, like a track would be. It is a beautiful sight though. You can hear the crashing of the waves while you run along the beach. It is fun running with a group of friends. You can challenge each others endurance. These were long runs so you ran for endurance and distance, not speed. But with practice, you also get faster. I start out at a certain speed. Part of the run I am running really fast, then I scale back. Beach running can be fun because it is smooth in some spots and a little of a challenge in some spots. People adjust depending on the terrain. She did other kinds of Cross country runs in Hillsborough county. She liked being part of a team.