Visiting Grandpa

It's May 14th and the local greenhouses are

full of blooming annuals and perennials....

 customers are flocking in...

gardening season is here and it's time to get growing!!

I have not bought any plants yet!

This week promises to be warm,

so by the end of the week my petunias

will be planted!!

Oh how I would love to get in a time machine

and venture back to about 1950...

I would definitely buy my plants 

from Pete Javers

(my grandpa)

My mother always tells 

me about her mother's cold frame...

Grandma would just scoop a handful of pansies

out and put them in the customer's box!

Pete and Eileen had the Lennox Greenhouse

and the best plants in Minnehaha County!

Grandpa Pete was a carpenter by trade

and made his own wooden crates

for flower trays

The flower shop smelled of chrysanthemums,

lily of the valley, gladiolus, roses, and orchids....

Grandma and the girls were always busy

arranging flowers for funerals and weddings!

My mom can still make the most beautiful bows,

she had a lot of practice!!  

My brothers and sisters all remember riding their

bikes to Grandpas (just down the street)

about every day.

After Grandma died I think the 4 kids were

great company for Grandpa

He had an apartment built on to the house we lived in,

he must've been very lonely to put up with 4 lively ones!!

Our house on Main and Elm 1950

This Saturday I strolled down our street

(and Memory Lane)

and took some pictures...

Our old house 2012

Barb & Rhonda in front of Grandpa's Apartment 1968

The apartment now (2012)

Someone's added on a garage

(which means Grandpa's fishpond is long gone)

but,the gas lamp is still there

AND

the J on the storm door!!

38 years ago I had to show Grandpa Pete how I could

ride a bike, I rode up and down the sidewalk on visits!

Saturday I walked up this sidewalk and 

wondered,

"Where does the time go?"

Thanks for strolling down Memory Lane with me.

A visit to my birthplace always brings 

out my sentimental side and the old photo albums!

I hope this stirs up a good memory or two for you...

"So long as the memory of certain beloved friends

lives in my heart,

I shall say that life is good."

                                  Helen Keller