Memories of Papa

 

Papa and I were buddies.  He always had time for me.  Mamie was busy in the house with cooking and stuff I wasn't even sure of and her programs but Papa, he worked out in his workshop and in the garden and I was right there with him.  He would talk about the garden and his fruit trees, most of which I didn't get but I knew it was the reason his fruit and veggies tasted the best.  

He would fix stuff in his workshop and talking to me the whole time as I watched him.  

In the afternoon and evenings he would play cards with me.  Teaching me how to play rummy and crazy 8s.  We would share a 7Up and he would help me add up my cards and keep score.  

Papa was also the one who would take me and my friend Lee to the corner store to buy us Smarties.  No matter where we were when we saw his car we would start running and yelling "Papa, papa, papa!!!"  He would pick each of us up and swing us around, happy to see us.  

Papa and Mamie were the ones who got me a tricycle for Christmas in just my favourite colour.  Every five years Papa would change the trim of their house from blue to red and back again, he also painted the lawn chairs that they had to match as well, the garage door was part of it too changing it's colour from blue to red.  When we moved to our home next door to them when I saw my Papa in his workshop or garden I would fly over as fast as my legs would take me to spend time with him.  When I was older I would help mow the huge lawn that both our homes had, he was very careful to care for his lawn mowers and when he was reaching the end of his time to care for the outdoors he made me promise to not let my father use his machines as dad wasn't very careful when it came to lawn mowers.

I do miss my best buddy Papa.

  

Recipes - Dad's Pancakes

 

Now, according to Dad (who was great at spinning a tale) when he came to Canada he was rooming with other cyclists who also came from England.  One Saturday morning they told him that it was his turn to make breakfast and since he had never cooked in his life he was not too sure how do to that but thought that pancakes would be filling and easy.

He thought back to his mom making pancakes and although wasn't too sure of all the ingredients he came up with this one.  

2 cups flour

4 eggs

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups milk ( 2% or richer as skim or 1% make them too thin) 

Mix all ingredients well with electric mixer. Cook both sides in hot fry pan coated with butter until golden.

Needless to say, the guys were impressed with his cooking skills.  I can't swear that he made this up himself but it does make a good story.  

Tigger Video

 

Well, we can't do an old Bear video without a Tigger one.  She is over 11 years old now and not as quick as she was but she is still as clever as any cat we have ever had or seen.  She will still get you with teeth and claws if you annoy her which can happen at any moment but she is still our girl.

We were also remembering when Tigger got surprised when her tail grew out.  It was such a stubby little one and then one day it swung out and touched her nose and she jumped a foot and tried to see what touched her and could not believe that it was her tail... at least until she bit it.  

Have a lovely week!