Family Archives

January 9, 2016

Mole Trap

This wicked-looking device hanging in Mother’s basement came from HER parents’ backyard garage in Advance. I can remember seeing it and being fascinated by the grisly tool when I was a little kid.

The way it worked was you would look around your yard until you saw the raised portions of ground where the moles had created runs. You would cock the trap by pulling up on the handle at the top, which would compress the spring and raise the spikes.

After that, you would put the trap straddling the run with the big stakes on both sides, sticking it in the ground just far enough that the flat trigger at the top of the spike platform would rest across the raised dirt. The theory was that a mole passing through the run would jiggle the ground just enough to send the spikes plunging through him.

I never checked for success

I’m not sure we ever deployed the device with any serious intent to dispatch any moles, and I certainly never dug around to see if it had been successful if we had.

If you have a sadistic bent and moles in your yard, I’m pretty sure the trap ended up at Annie Laurie’s Antique Shop.

Wow! I just did a Google search for “mole trap” and came up with a whole bunch of more modern devices for dealing with the rodents. After looking at a couple of videos, I am more convinced than ever that ignorance is bliss. I’m glad I never checked for results.

January 4, 2016

W. M. Adkins Family c 1883

I don’t know how many times I’ve typed, “While searching for something else, I ran across…” Here it comes again.

This is a scan of a photograph that was in pretty bad shape. At the bottom it says, I think, “W.M. Adkins and Family taken August 19, 1883 (or 93 or 88).” (Click on the photos to make them larger.)

That porch looks a little like one Mother was photographed on when she was a little girl. I’ll have to dig those photos out to check.

Tillman Cemetery

Over the years, I asked Mother to take me around to all the cemeteries that contain family members. In 2010, we visited Pleasant Hill Cemetery, which she always called “Tillman Cemtery,” named after the tiny Stoddard county community that had been there. It had a post office from 1883 to 1906.

It was also called Tilman, with one “L,” probably for John Tilman, the first postmaster.

W.M. and Mary O. Adkins

The stone Mother is standing behind marks the final resting place of W.M. and Mary O. Adkins. Willis M. Adkins was born in Indiana in May 13, 1858, and died March 3, 1923. Mary Ollie Overbey Adkins was born May 8, 1863, and died July 6, 1938.

I’m assuming they were her grandparents on her mother’s side. I sure wish I had paid more attention while we were walking through the cemetery.

December 10, 2015

Too Pooped to Post

Brother-in-Law John and I spent a whole day validating the Rule of Threes: every project will cost three times as much as anticipated, require three times as long as planned, and will take at least three trips to any place you plan to buy parts. Actually, I’m pretty sure we were into the Rule of Sixes and Nines on a couple of items.

I’m too tired to tell the whole story tonight, but I’ll give you a hint that it involves something in this photo.

November 27, 2015

Another Christmas Food

We got Hutson’s Christmas window display out of the way last night. Two more things have to happen before the season is really here.

I haven’t gotten my traditional box of chocolate-covered cherries yet, but I did get one of the other staples.

Well, actually, a guess the tin of popcorn shouldn’t really count as Christmas because I usually buy it when it’s on deep clearance in some hardware store or discount house long about July, but it has a picture of Santa Claus or some winter scene on the side of it that SAYS Christmas.

Is fresh less stale?

When I ran across this tin, I thought I’d give it a try to see if the popcorn is any less stale when it’s purchased at the start of winter instead of the middle of the summer.

Nope. It’s either last year’s tin or it ALWAYS tastes like semi-flavored cardboard.

There may be some folks who eat the flavors in order, but I don’t go to that church. I open all the packages at once, give the white, unflavored (a relative term) a taste, then never dip into it again. Caramel and cheese corn must be eaten in the ratio of one handful of caramel to two handfuls of cheese.

Road food secret

I tend to mix my snacks that way. When I was on the road a lot, I’d buy a bag of almond M&Ms and a bag of pork rinds. That’s because you won’t know until you get to the motel room whether you are going to have a salt craving or a sweet craving. Ultimately, I’d compromise with a ratio of one piece of pork rind to two M&Ms. Washed down with a Dr. Pepper, of course. It covered all the bases.

It’s that time of year again

Everybody is getting all excited about Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Overspend Wednesday (I made that one up), so I’m going to join the din. I hate to keep harping on this, but my mailbox is full or ads and teases, so it must work.

If you are going to shop Amazon anyway, please go to my blog and click on the big red ‘Click Here’ button at the top left of the page (or, this one). That’ll take you directly to Amazon with a code embedded. If you buy something, I’ll make from four to seven percent of your purchase price without it costing you anything.

Think of it as being your painless Christmas present to me.