Mary Harris Coates Appreciating a Cow
Some days I just keep doing fun stuff like looking through pictures, reading blogs, looking up ancestors, eating chocolate, and just generally not doing what I’m supposed to do. Today is one of those days. I just learned over at geneabloggers.com that today is Cow Appreciation Day and that reminded me of this picture of my great-grandmother Mary Ann Harris Coates.
I promise – no more posts today!
The prompt from Sepia Saturday this week had me looking through the family pictures on my computer for babies being transported – or at least posing in a carriage or stroller. Here’s what I found….
Bernard Coates (1908-1998)
Bernard Coates was my grandmother’s brother. I called him Uncle Bernie.
What is that expression on his face? I don’t want my picture taken… This big bow is a bit much… I’ll sit here for the picture, but I won’t like it.
The strap across the front of the stroller seems more of a suggestion to the child to stay in the stroller than an attempt to keep him restrained. At least it doesn’t wrinkle his clothes.
Wilbur Hoskins (1924-1930)
Wilbur Hoskins was the first-born child of my grandparents, Eveline Coates Hoskins and Thomas Hoskins. My grandparents left their home in Mystic, Iowa and traveled to Rockford, Illinois so that my grandfather could find work. Wilbur came with them; they left their young son, Albert, in the care of his grandmother; Eveline was pregnant with my mother. During their stay in Rockford, Wilbur got the measles, suffered kidney failure, and died at the young age of five years. I think he resembles his father.
The stroller itself is very interesting – looks like a seat within a seat. It looks like the handle for pushing the stroller has been swung over the top of the stroller and is on the ground in front.
Birthday Goodies
On a lighter note – here is a picture of me chatting it up with someone about my birthday haul which includes a baby and a baby buggy.
Fun on the Farm
So this last one isn’t a baby buggy or stroller, but it is a fun form of transport for a kid. This is my (step)grandfather G. A. Hockensmith and two of my sisters getting a ride during a visit to our grandparent’s farm. I love this picture because everything looks just as it was – no posing, nothing cleaned up or hidden from view for the picture, my sister’s joyful smile during her bumpy ride.
Easy Peach Cobbler
Oops! We got into the cobbler before I decided to take a picture and share the recipe. Christina and I have no willpower.
I bought a half box of amazingly delicious Fredericksburg peaches from an Optimist group fundraising for scholarships the weekend before the 4th. They were so good! I ate at least one a day until we went out of town. (Also made a peach pie for July 4th – yum!) I stuck the rest in the fridge, hoping they would still be edible when we returned. They were not as pretty for eating in the raw as when we left, but still tasty and great for cobbler.
I got this recipe from the Austin American Statesman years ago. It was a “children’s” recipe – so it has lots of instruction included. Not an “old” family recipe, but one of mine.
Here are the bare bones:
Easy Peach Cobber
1/2 cup margarine (I don’t use the stuff any more – I use real butter)
1 cup flour
1 2/3 cups sugar (separated)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk
3-4 cups fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place stick of butter in a 12-by-8-inch baking dish and place in the oven to melt. While the butter is melting, measure flour, 1 cup sugar, salt, and baking powder into a sifter. Sift into a medium-size mixing bowl. Set aside. Check butter; if melted, remove from oven.
Blend milk with dry ingredients, mixing well. Pour batter over melted butter in baking dish. Stir lightly with a fork or spoon – it does not have to be completely blended in. Spread peach slices over batter. Stir cinnamon into remaining sugar (I usually use 1/3 c. instead of 2/3 c. of sugar – just a tiny bit healthier!). Sprinkle over peaches.
Bake for 45-60 minutes until crust is golden brown.
I think this makes a delicious cobbler. Let me know what you think.