Gone to the Dogs (or a week with the dogs)

Lexie...

Gretchen and Bit Well Cindy and Rick left on a cruise Sunday , so Delores and I are Dog sitting for a week.Now these are not just three dogs... These are Three Dogs.... One big and I mean big is Lexie a Boxer and all muscle and she does not know when to stop playing . I think she would retrieve a tennis ball as long as you could throw it. she will also knock you down when she is greeting you by jumping on you standing on her hind legs and look you in the eyes... She is all dog.Next we have Gretchen a little long haired Dachshund , she is getting a little old and not any trouble at all. She will eat anything and everything . She is the ultimate dogie garbage disposal . A loner mainly wants to be left alone and let her sleep. Then but not least is Bit(name has evolved over time) a Beagle/Dachshund/Jack Russell mix that is the ramrod of the trio, smart as a whip and knows how to get his way. Learned how to get to stay with me on the days that I am in the barber shop. Knows when I take a shower in the mornings that if he whines he gets to go to Hardee's to get two sausage biscuits for him and the other two dogs ... and this has got to be a ever morning thing. So the three together about wears us out by the time the week is over.... You know how it is , about like grandchildren spoil um and then send then home... Lets see this is Tuesday , just five more day till Saturday and they are gone.... Wheeeeeee!!!!

THANKSGIVING DAY 2007

The day started off real well , Mema was up early getting some of the food prepared . This year we are doing something a little different . In years passed we have not had a big day on Thanksgiving . Usuallly the children Cindy and Terry are elsewhere for Thanksgiving dinner so Delores usually eats dinner out with a friend and I stay home and start getting the Christmas decorations down and put up but, this year Terry's family was going to be at the beach because Andrew is playing in a golf tournament so Cindy and Mema decided to have Thanksgiving at our house, without all the cooking the turkey and ham and such so they ordered the dinner from a local restaurant here in Spartanburg . Which was a smart thing to do saved a lot of work on the ladies. Cindy and Rick got here pretty early and started helping Mema get things ready. Then Tommy and Cathy(Rick's Sister and brother-in-law) arrived with some pies and sweet potato yams. Soon Amanda and Les (Cathy and Tommy's daughter and son-in -law)arrived with Seth their 2 year old son . Then Larry a friend of the family arrived and Ashley our grand daughter and her boy friend Will arrived and we sat down to a great Thanksgiving Dinner.....

Picture ... L to R Rick , Cathy, Amanda and Ashley

A Day at the Trophy Shop

Terry working at one of the engravers
Christopher at work Cindy in the office
Trophies ready to go.
Trophy work bench

One of the laser machines
The show room
Terry still at work
computer Center.

Typical Day at the Barber Shop

The work week starts on Tuesday morning at 8am and usually the first customer every otherTuesday is Mike pictured here. Been trimming Mike's locks since he was in middle school his dad was a patron and very close friend of mine for many years till he passed away several years back his name was Bud. Now I could count on Bud for about anything , running errands for me , he would stay at the shop if I had somewhere I had to go. He would stay and sometimes when I would return he would be sitting there talk to several customers that he had held there with the promise that I would be back shortly. Of course this was at another shop not where this shop is . He was a true and very loved and missed friend and of course when I see Mike I think of Bud. A little history started barbering in 1954 after about 18 months of barbering school. I worked at one shop with a man, who befriended me and was like a second father to me, and his son who was like a brother . Worked there for 20 years till 1974 and deceided it was time to operate my own shop. I bought a shop from a barber that was retiring and moved to that shop. This is where I first met Bud. Stayed there for 26 years till 2000 when I simi-retired to the shop here at the homestead. So I still have some customers that have started coming to the shop since I have been here and some that have been retained form the two other shops that I worked..

2nd Day Construction

The second day of the project got under way pretty early. The first job was to build the other support wall and take out the original wall. This also called for a trip into the attic to reinforce the ceiling joist . When that was done the support beam was place in and the temporary wall jacks were removed . Then some trim work was done and is to be finished tomorrow . Also the cabinet man is supposed to be here and start on the bar. then the electrician is to be here Friday

so maybe in just a few more work days we might be finished . Will see how tomorrow goes..

DAY 3 OF CONSTURCTION

Missed a few day of the remodeling ,but the electrians got here today and did the wiring that had been planed which included replacing some of the outlets and the thermostats that were in the wall that was taken out also they put in an overhead light and fan that the old living room did not have . Also they routed the cable for the television in the wall so that the wires are not seen and also hung the television on the wall with a wall bracket. All in all the day went well . The only problems were minor , misunderstanding where the tv was going and the worker cut one of the wires in the ceiling heat system that had to be replaced. They had to improvise on the lights that we had pick out to hang over the bar. With the beam at 14 inches below the ceiling there was not enough space to use the downrod so they had to mount them directly to the beam . No big problem and they look just fine ... about one more day work left repairing the floor and some trim work and we will have the job finished... we hope it will be soon , but have learned to expect the worker when we see them.... later..

Day One of Construction

Day one of construction has passed and went very well. The crew show up with trailor and went to work taking down the wall . Just a few problems here and there but all in all went pretty good. Was a lot of dust and plaster chips . Had to disable a few receptecals and the electrical heat themostats and in doing so it cut the power to the other receptecals in the den which will have to be fixed on the next work day ,I hope . Will see how it goes on day two ..Will update tomorrow...

The Walls came down at the Halls

So now after 39 years we have decided to have the wall between the den/kitchen and the living room removed. When we moved into this house in 1968 the living room was the one room that we wait and took our time to chose just the right furniture ,so it was several years before it was furnished completely. The living room has served us well over the years it is where the Christmas tree that Mema decorates so beautifully stands. It is where we have for all these years passed out the presents . It is the place where most of the pictures were taken. The furniture is just as new as the day it was placed it in the room. Our house is a ranch style (as you can see from the pictures on our post) constructed like most in the 60's . Three bedrooms ,two baths, den/kitchen and living room. The Gold Medallion of the day. The trouble now is the living room hardly ever get used except on Christmas the rest of the time the door is usually closed. So to utilized the space we have decided to open it up and make a great room .We will have to get rid of some furniture and buys some new , but mostly it will be a matter of rearranging what we have. The plan now is to convert the den area into the dining area and the living room will be the den. I am sure it will take some time to get everything in the right place ,but Mema and Iare sure it will work out... Anyway the destruction starts Tuesday will keep you informed... Mema and Papa

The Homestead

This is the home that Delores and I share. We have lived here since 1968. We have raised two children , Cindy and Terry here and still miss them since they married and left. We have the same close neighbors that we have since we moved here , in fact of all the neighbors we are the new comers. All of the families have children that have married and left the nest also . So you might say we are a neighborhood of old fogies. We would not think of living anywhere else too many memories to even think about leaving .

Introduction

Hello my name is Gaines . I am 72 years of age, married, wife's name is Delores (Lois) . We have been married 53 years this Christmas day 2008. We are the parents of two children, Cindy 51 years of age and Terry age 49 . More on the children and their families later.We all live in the Spartanburg, SC area. This blog is an account of our lives and the events of such starting 1936 till the present day....

Chapter I The Early Years

I was born on December 22, 1936 in Spartanburg SC. My parents were Fred Lee and Joanna I had one sister and one brother , Peggy( 1932-2001) and Harry 1934-1990) they will be mention through out this blog. I guess I am like most people my first 4-5 years I remember bits and pieces of the time , nothing continuous until my first year in school from then till now I remember. I came from a broken home , my parents were separated and divorced before I can remember at different times lived with each parent.
The time is 1943 the place is Columbia,SC I and my brother Harry are living with our Dad and his wife ( later I discovered was just a girlfriend). Don't know how or why but in the next short period of time Harry and I were living with foster parents in Horrell Hill , SC on highway 378 just southeast of Columbia. As well as I remember we were happy there . They had an old mule that they let us ride . Years later around the early 60's my wife and two children and I were traveling to the beach when we passed the school that I attended while staying in the foster home. To my surprise and don't know why I looked off the road and saw the school house. I told the family "I went to that school when I was young" . I turned the car around and went down the road a short distant to the school , It has since been demolished and a new school built, but at the time it was still as it was in 1943. It had an auditorium in the center and two classrooms , one on each side . Oh how it brought back memories . I drove down the road knowing the house that I lived in was just a short distance . There it was just as I remembered , a little more age ,not as big as it seemed years before, the trees and bushes were bigger , that old mule barn was still there but falling in. Well I was not going to let this go by without knowing if the people that shared their home for me were still there or not , so I knocked on the door and a lady answered and said they rented the house from a lady whose family had owned the house since it was built and that she now lived in Baltimore Md. I guess I should have got her address and wrote to her and thanked her for the kindness that she gave me during that time of my youth. Well that is hind sight and now it is too late. That is one reason for this website is to keep the record for members of my family . A short time later there was a hearing in Spartanburg where it was decided that my brother , sister and I should be place in care of the state. Now my sister had for the most part been care for by an aunt and our grandmother , but she said she was going where her brothers went . That was the way my big sister was , tho we didn't live with each other in the early years she always was there when she could. The courts place us in a state run school. (John dela Howe School) in McCormick , SC. which as it turned out was one of the best blessing of my life.
I attended school there for 5 or 6 years , while there though love and care and understanding and sometimes discipline the lessons of life, faith , courage , love of other, and loving others was instilled in my core and fiber that was to serve me through out my life time. (See the John dela Howe Days in another part of the blog)

The John dela Howe Years Lethe Cottage

In January 1944 the three of us arrived at John dela Howe late in the day and were placed in the old infirmary just inside of the campus next to the Branch House for the first night . Sometime during the night I guess I may have been crying and maybe scared being in a strange place and not knowing what was going on and what was going to happen to me. Peggy my big sister must have heard me and came from her room and sat on the edge of my bed , I remember it like it was just night before last, said " baby brother it will be all right ,because I am here with you and always will be." Just a few years ago at the cemetery sixty-five years later as the people gather around to hear the preacher say some last words as my big sister was laid to rest those words were all that I could hear and think about " Baby Brother it will be all right , because I am here with you and always will be." So all through the years she was there for me to give advise , to help me anyway she could , I always knew that I could call on Peggy my Big Sister. Never a day goes by that I don't think of her. The next day Harry and I were placed in Lethe Cottage . The matron was named Miss Morrow. Stayed there for I don't know how long I know I was there through the summer because I did not go home that summer and the kids that stayed on campus that summer went to Cherry Grove for a week . It was some kind of camp( found out years later as my wife and children and I were vacationing at Myrtle Beach for some reason we rode up to Cherry Grove and sure enough the camp was still there, of course this was just about 20 years later. The camp was owned by the 4H club of Florence , SC. It has been demolished now I guess to make room for progress. On the way back to John dela Howe there were two buses full of children . I was on the bus in the rear and the bus developed trouble , I remember we pull the bus into a church yard . The bus in front had no way of knowing our predicament continued on. What ever was wrong with the bus what not a speedy repair. So there we were about 30 or so kids and several adults sitting in a church with no food or accommodations . Some how the powers that be got in touch with the right people and the church was opened for our use and some very nice people brought in sandwiches and refreshments. I have often wonder who those nice people were so I could thank them . The bus was repaired hours later and we traveled on to the school , got back after dark the other bus had gotten back in time for the afternoon swim. So sometime after that summer I was placed in Palmetto Cottage . I think Harry had been placed in Carolina Cottage sometime earlier...

BOY WILL BE BOYS AT JOHN dela HOWE___

As the old says goes “Boys will be Boys” and was never more true than with the boys at John dela Howe. There was never a day that went by that we were not doing something not necessary bad thing or wrong things just endeavors that left memories and thoughts of the fleeting days of our youth. We played, worked and I mean some hard work, we went to school, we went to church, we ate and we slept. There is a story in each one of these activities and they will be told at a later time. The story for this writing is about a cabin that we built in the woods and the camaraderie the bond between friends that I still remember to this day and the good times that we had as we played and explored the woods just like the early settlers had done before. I hope that the boys that came after us had the same life and bond as the band of brothers of our youth.
THE CABIN
Abbeville, the name of a town also the name that was given to one of ten cottages that were space around a circle campus, Abbeville cottage is on the right side of the road that leads to highway #81 toward the dairy. Some of us boys during one of our excursions in the woods which was about every day ,but more so on those Saturday mornings that we were free to do our own thing ,decided to build a log cabin. We had gone into the woods behind the cottage and crossed over highway #81 in to the woods on the far side. I don’t remember who or what made us have the brain storm to come up with the idea to build a log cabin but it was a great project for about 5 or 6 eager house builders. We picked a spot in a ravine and started to work I am sure we had some saws or hatchets. The plan was to make it two stories (now that shows we were ambitious ) but we lived in the world that taught us to do the undo able , dream big nothing was too hard for us to do.
The plan was, as I said to build it two stories. The first story would be completely in the ravine with the top room being at ground level. You would enter the top room and go to the bottom chamber through a hole in the floor. I hope you get the picture. Even to this day I can close my eyes and the image of our cabin is seared in my brain. One day if possible I would like to return to that part of the woods and see if I can locate the site. I am sure it is not there, but if by chance I could stand in that old ditch where we as boys built our mansion so many years ago.
We got the cabin built, don’t remember how long it took several weeks I am sure. Now don’t get the impression that this was a cabin built with foot thick logs. No this was build with pine saplings about 3-4 inches diameter. The cabinwas built we set out to outfit it with the comforts of home our stove and coffee pot consisted of a couple of gallon cans that we got at the kitchen. We bought coffee and bread at Cades grocery store. The dairy supplied us with butter and some cream and also some molasses. This molasses was used at the dairy to pour over the cows feed they said to sweeten the milk. All this was done of course without Mr. Blake the dairy boss knowledge. With our booty in hand and our cabin in all its splendor waiting we were ready for a feast. A campfire was started and the coffee was poured in the can with water, now don’t asked where we got the water, I don’t remember, but I guess we took in into the woods from the cottage. The coffee boiling we then wait for the grounds to settle to the bottom. Sitting there in the woods drinking coffee from cans eating butter and molasses sandwiches with the trees swaying in the breeze and nature all around us we felt like kings and I guess we were because, we were rulers over our domain. Our Cabin in the Woods.


THE LAST DAY WE RODE THE TREES DOWN
Trees, one of God’s great and wise gifts to man. We use them for about all of our needs , the build shelters , to burn for warmth, in some cases for food that they bear, for wood to build all sort of things such as furniture , we use them for shade, and they are necessary to filter and replenish the oxygen that we breath but the boys at John dela Howe used them for another purpose. We would climb up to the top of the young saplings and swing them over. Some times they would bend all the way to the ground and you would drop off. Some times they would just bend so far and you would have to drop the rest of the way to the ground. Sometimes they would bend so far and then break and down you would come to ground. So you learned to expect about any of these things to happen as you were in the top of the tree swinging it to a fro to get it swaying so that it would go over with you and once it started you maneuvered to the ground side as extra weight to carry the tree on over and hopefully to the ground.
This was how we would spend time, usually on Saturdays and days when we had some spare time and were not working or in school. At the time I was in Palmetto cottage and the wood that this story is about lies between the cottage and the dairy. There was a path which was a shortcut as opposed to the road when we had to go to the dairy. This patch of wood is the setting or stage if you prefer of the story.
We were in the woods swinging the trees over and having a good time as we always did, shouting and yelling “Ride em over boys”. Well as I said before sometimes the sapling would break so all through the wood were these stumps of popular trees protruding into the air, some 8 or 10 feet high and some with sharp spikes on them where they had broken off. If you are getting ahead of the story you probably realize what was about to happen. One of the boys as he was riding to the ground his tree broke and as he was falling he hit one of these spike on one of the previous broke tree and the spike luckily broke off and he fell to the ground. As we rush to him the shiver of tree had entered his back and was close to exiting the front of his body. Not sure if we carried him out of the woods or went to get help. Either way he was taken to the infirmary of course it was not equipped to handle anything like this so he was rushed to the hospital in the near by town. His injury was serious but not life threading . There was no damage to any of his vital organs and as I remember he was back at the school in a few days..
To my knowledge that ended the sport of tree riding. Not sure if it was not allowed after that or whether we just did not see the fun of it any more. All though we never rode the Trees over again I for one thought of that day each time I walked through that patch of woods. More than 60 years have passed and I can’t remember the name of the boy that got injured or for sure the other boys that were with me that day. I do though remember the events of that day crystal clear. I recall them often , On that The Last Day We Rode the Trees Down.

..Gaines