Memories of Grandad

 

Now Dad's parents I only saw three times in my life.  They came to visit when I was nearly 5 at the house we lived in before we moved to our home on the highway.  The second time we went to England when Mom was pregnant with my sister and the last time was about when my sister was 2.  

We did hear from them through letters and parcels and magazines from England but to actually speak to them and get hugs, sadly that was not to be more than those times.  Overseas long distant calls were very expensive and not an easy thing to do either.    

Grandad thought it was funny that I would say 'Hi', each time I saw him and he would reply with 'Low', and smile.  He was a master carpenter and learned his trade from his father, Samuel.  Strange tale was that Grandad had no middle name because when his older brother was born after several sisters, they thought he would be the only boy and so gave him all the boy names they thought of.

I heard he had at least three middle names, and then his mom had another boy and neither parent could think of another name besides James and so that was his name - James Broomfield.  He worked his whole life for a funeral home in Enfield, a suburb of London, where he made coffins with all hand tools.  When we visited England I got to see his workshop there where coffins in all the stages of construction were standing along a wall.  Grandad was wearing his work suit, grey pants with a white shirt, his tie and jacket were hanging on a peg and his sleeves of his shirt were rolled up and had those silver sleeve holders that made sure they didn't slip down at a bad moment.  He also always wore a vest, either beige or grey, which had two pockets.  Over that his carpenter apron made of a heavy material such as a soft leather.   His vest held his silver cigarette case and his matches.  He always rolled his own cigarettes, and because Grandad was so very frugal they were the thinnest cigarettes you ever saw, Dad would remark there was only a strand of tobacco rolled in a paper.  Of course though, Grandad had see both the first and second world war as well as the depression too and both he and Gran were very careful with their funds.

Grandad, when we visited England took me out for an Walls ice cream each day after he finished work.  It was the best and richest ice cream I had ever had to this very day. 

This picture was the last time we saw them in 1969.  It was a pretty hot summer that year that they came and Grandad actually took off his tie and vest, but not to the point of wearing sandals or shorts.  There were limits to modern styles - thank you very much.  

To me, Grandad was a very quiet man, steady, strong and firm in his beliefs in life.  He loved his family and had a quiet sense of humor and smile.  I knew that he loved us, loved his wife with his whole heart and could always be counted on when needed 100%.  I may not have seen him often, but he was always in my heart.  

      

Recipes - My Baked Beans

 

Now first off with this recipe the beans are not made from scratch, I wouldn't even begin to know how to do that but I did get this recipe from a dear friend who has long past away and although I have made a few changes to his recipe to make it mine I do remember him when I make it.  He was very set in his ways about his recipes and never ever shared the full one and how I ever got it from him is a mystery to me.  He did regret passing it on and got angry thinking I had already shared it with others, which I didn't until he had past and so here is my version of Bob's Beans (not my darling hubby but another Bob)

4 cans of beans in tomato sauce (but not Heinz as it is too ketchupy)

1 cup Heinz ketchup (this makes a difference as others make it taste differenct)

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 bunches of green onions, chopped (white part only)

1 green pepper, diced

1/2 tbsp garlic powder

1/2 pkg of regular bacon (not maple flavoured)

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

3 tbsp HP sauce, regular

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix all together and baked covered for 2 hours at 350F. Remove and stir well at 45 minutes 2Xs and once at 30.

Have a great day!

Grey Cup and Christmas Cards

 

So last night was the Grey Cup (like the Super Bowl for Canada) and although neither of the teams were a favourite and the Eastern one the most disliked of the bunch, Eastern one - The Toronto Argos won the cup and really they did deserve it.  Their playing was excellent and even with their main QB injured, the second QB really stepped up and did a great job.  So, well done Argos!

Usually watching the Grey Cup is my time to do my Christmas cards but this year, for the first time in about 40 years I didn't.  I didn't for two reasons and the first one is the postal strike. 

Now I think they are shooting themselves in the foot, considering that their business has fallen completely to a all time low between the internet, computers, etransfers, cell phones and of course Amazon, who uses other companies to ship their stuff.  Yes, remote places need the postal service but being remote I am sure they have done with less in the winter when it comes to deliveries.  Sure, I send Christmas cards and some do send a few out but really not too many do anymore.  It is becoming a lost art, so what will happen is that people will make adjustments and whatever they use mail for they won't for a time until it is up and running again and life will go on.  End of my little rant on postal strikes.  

The second reason is my arthritis, although I manage to push through lots of things, my hands are not as strong as they were and they really cannot manage a lot of writing when it comes to cards, so I am sticking to writing a Christmas greeting letter here on my blog, emails to those who are not on Facebook, lots of Facebook Christmas posts and really, leave it at that.  No cards this year!  I am done or at least my hands are.  

So have a great day, my friends!