I’m starting off 2015 with a very random post! Sort of how our days have been between and after Christmas and New Year’s Day!
Dear and I took a little trip up to Snohomish, Washington to look at some furniture pieces we are contemplating to add to our living room. We are thinking of changing out our Billy bookcases that we’ve had for ages from Ikea and adding a large open bookcase that is more of a piece of furniture. We arrived to the furniture store before it opened so we took a little drive around the block. We passed this house that seemed to be feeding every pigeon in the county in their front yard. So glad they are not my neighbor…
How do you feel about pigeons? When I was little my father decided to build a pigeon coupe in our back yard and he acquired several pigeons. Back then there were only four of us siblings and we each chose a pigeon for our pet. My pigeon was Green Neck because it had a lovely iridescent green neck. Creative name…not so much. Well we frequently fell on hard times back in the 50’s and during an exceptionally hard time my mother and father killed some of the pigeons to make soup. Oh the trauma the four of us siblings felt when we realized our pets were the base of the soup we were suppose to eat for dinner. We rebelled and would not eat that soup! My poor parents, it must have been hard for them to be forced to submit to such drastic measures to feed us. I’m not fond of pigeons anymore. We now call them rats with wings.
Here’s a photo of my dapper pop that my niece took last week. He’ll be 92 in May. He’s been through a lot and been blessed a lot in his 92 years.
For this very random post I’ll add this photo collage, too.
This is a photo of Dear’s only brother and him taken at my mom’s funeral split with a photo of Dear’s parents. Dear’s father passed away in 1985 and his mom in 1997. I was struck with how each of the brother’s resemble one of their parents more than the other.
So hope the New Year is starting out well in your neck of the woods. We are going slow here. I’ll be putting away Christmas decor in the next few days. I’m really looking forward to starting up my exercise classes with the Seniors on Monday again after six weeks off because of my broken toe. Maybe I’ll lose a few pounds in January…
The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b. 
Funny story about the “poultry.” LOL! I have eaten in homes where the family knew the main course on a first name basis. It is a little disconcerting.
Happy putting things away. I’ll be joining you next week, except for the tree, which will become my winter tree.
Does your husband favor his dad?
I had to smile at your pigeon story. I had a similar experience but it was with pet rabbits – eek! I’m hoping to get my Christmas things put away next week too. Love your new header – what a great looking bunch! Have a great week getting back into routine!
I was once invited to a squab luncheon (isn’t a squab a small pigeon?), but I had not fed them myself! My husband would like to have a cow for beef, but he knows that we girls would never be able to EAT “Bessie.” (Friends of a friend named their cow Pot Roast to keep the “food” idea in the forefront.)
Furniture shopping can be fun! Can’t wait to see you new bookshelf!
Happy New Year to all of you!
Oh my goodness! I’ll never be able to think of pigeons again without remembering “rats with wings!”
Your pop looks awesome for 92!
Hi Ellen, I enjoyed this post! That’s a big group of pigeons! 🙂 Oh your poor parents and you and your siblings, too. An old friend of mine’s mother grew up on a farm, and one year her mother’s parents let her name one of the new pigs. Unfortunately, she got attached to it, and it was later slaughtered for the family to eat (which had been the plan all along). My friend said her mom could never eat the ham — she said it tasted bad. I can certainly understand that. Most of our generation has never had to go hungry, or we would harden up pretty quickly I imagine.
As to the pigeons, we’ve always called them rats with wings too, although they are rather pretty birds. Your father looks quite dapper and I know you feel blessed to still have him here. My very first impression when I saw the family pictures was that your husband’s brother looks a tiny bit like Malcolm MacDowell. 🙂 I’m glad you’re getting to return to your exercise class, Ellen. Hubby and I are going back to our local Y, as well. We have really got to lose some weight and get in better shape this year. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your family and I wish you much health and happiness in the coming year!
Big hugs to you,
Denise
Things are slow around here, too. I enjoyed the pigeon story very much. I think sometimes that in our abundance of food from stores we lose sight of how hard it was to feed a family in the past. I’m sure there are those today who would do the same thing.
Love the header photo of your lovely family. Enjoy puttering and going slow. Christmas came down here, and now I need to put the everyday things out again.
Sounds like a fun start to your new year. I cannot imagine being asked to eat a “pet”, it must have been terrible for all of you. Our day two of the year included car shopping…not one of my favorite activities.
Smiling here…at your pigeon story. Growing up on a farm, where we raised all our own meat…your story hits home. We never ate the pets though. 🙂 Elmer raised pigeons as a kid. (Not for the table though!)
Growing up on the Alberta prairies during the 1930’s, my mom had to live in town and board with family friends while she was attending high school because it was too far to go back and forth to the farm every day during the winter. Times were hard then too, and mom’s friend’s mother used to fix them delicious stews – they never knew, though, whether the stew was rabbit, badger, or perhaps even racoon!! But the meat must have been safe to eat, because both mom and her friend lived until their 90’s!
It’s the time of year for moving slowly – so enjoy! I have been to Snohomish many times and always visit the antique mall there as well as some of the very pretty gift shops.
Pigeons? They are really a nuisance unless one is in a park in Paris in the spring!!
Ellen, I can see how that would be traumatic. My cousins used to have 4-H calves, and I think they sold them after they got to a certain size. My mother wouldn’t let me have one because she knew I would flip out if we sold it or that I would possibly become a vegetarian if I really thought about what happened to them. She got around my begging by telling me I would have to sleep in the barn with it. LOL Pretty smart threat since I loved air conditioning and creature comforts. I rode horses, but sleeping in the barn? Nope. “I get allergic smelling hay!” 😉
One time I came home about fifteen years ago, and I walked into our family room around lunchtime, minding my own business. Then, suddenly, it was like a scene from Hitchcock’s “The Birds” when a pigeon swooped through the room and nearly landed on my HEAD! I screamed, and it flew up the spiral staircase into our bedroom above. Thankfully, there was a window right there through which I shooed it. I was shrieking all the while. He had swan-dived down the chimney and was covered in soot. Then he took his sooty self and sat on a WHITE lampshade before terrorizing me. He ruined a perfectly good lamp!
I understand how people love their carrier pigeons, but I am not a big fan of pigeons. I do like turtle doves which seem very similar to me but sweeter.
Loved seeing the family pics, and your dad truly is a sport and very, very dapper. And your husband and his brother do resemble one parent over the other. To that end, I look like my father, and my sister looks like my mother.
This was some fun food for thought!
xo
Sheila 🙂
Happy and healthy New Year, Ellen! We took down all our Christmas decorations this past weekend as our tree was very dried up and dropping all its needles. I did not want my granddaughter to pick up those needles. She is in the stage where she is curious about everything and keeps us on the run…lol!
Your pigeon story gave me pause. I always say I could never eat something I ahd had a personal relationship with! When I was growing up my Mom often made “depression stew” which was a concoction of cut up hot dogs and canned tomatoes and potatoes. My father would buy a 25 pound bag of potatoes at the Farmer’s Market, and we ate potatoes at almost every meal. Happily, I still love potatoes, only they are not that cheap any longer–sigh.