The strong women of life

I have always been considered a tomboy. I

didn't do the doll bit. Only had one and it was

a Sparkle Plenty doll. Long blonde hair after

Dick Tracy's daughter from the comics.. But

I decided that Sparkle would look better in

short hair.  Cut all of the 18 inches of hair off

the doll..   That ended dolls for me.

After that it was barns, horse, dogs and cats.

Stuffed and non...

As I got older, I was the strong one. I thought

it was because my mother raised me to be

strong as she wasn't the normal mother. She

was a single child of a single child.. so wasn't

quite sure what to do with two kids.  She was

tough.  To survive I learn to be strong. Which

helped me in life.

But I am from strong stock...as my grandmother

on my father's side... not only raised 4 children,

but when her husband (my grandfather) was so

sick, she ran their livery stable. She had a hired

hand, but she keep the business going, keeping

the customers happy... getting supplies, and

making sure all the horses were in good shape.

As well as nurse my grandfather, did wash,

in the old days (this is 1918 and etc) 

you did it by hand. Also keep up with the

cooking and baking and all the regular wife

chores. This went on for almost a year.

My mother, was not your average housewife.

She had the horse farm.  small one.. but also

in her spare time.. She sewed fishing nets.

Not your small scoop up fishing nets..

But the full long ocean trapping nets.

She would have the white nets strung

(to my father's dismay) from one side

of the living room to the other. Piecing

them together. See they were about half

a block long, straight and then there was

a box with a funnel like on one side. Then

there was a long straight section, like the

other side had. The net would be laid out

in the ocean, with buoy like corks to float

the top, and lead weights to hold down the

bottom.. the straights would lead the fish

into the funnel of the box.. The fishermen

would have a skiff, on each side of the

sides of the box section. And they would

go out daily, and lift the box netting up into

the skiff until  the fish were seen swimming.

They had a netted scoop, that scooped up the

fish out of the top of the  net and into the

holding hole in the ship.  They would have

at least two of these nets.  Replacing one

each year.  This was in late 1940"s.

The winter months my mother would

spend sewing them together adding the

corks and the lead weights to the top and

bottom.

And in the spring the fishermen would take

it to the tar pit.  Which they had lit the box

underneath with fire wood.  When the

tar was hot, they would run the net thru it

and then spread it out on the acres they

owned behind out house to dry.

During the summer months, my mother

would walk the nets that were brought

in from the ocean, and check for holes.

Sewing up those holes one by one.

They rotated the nets every two weeks.

So it was an on going job. 

And she was the first woman to ever

do that job. They interviewed her one

time and wrote an article on her.

Tomorrow, I will tell you what I use to do.