Saturday came and with it her father with a load of farm produce that the cold weather would not harm. He brought rich country milk and cream as a gift. "Thy mother sent these to thee," he said. "Do thee wish to come outside and see if there is ought else thee would like?" "Let Silas make the choices there," she replied. Silas went out with her father and the two men returned with several winter vegetables, a dressed chicken, a big home-cured ham, butter and a pie pumpkin - all they could carry. Silas said he believed he would go with Father Russell to make his deliveries as he had several times in the past. As soon as they were gone, Hannah washed the pumpkin and quickly fixed it for cooking. "I'll make my husband a pumpkin pie topped with fresh whipped cream," she said to herself. Then she discovered that there was no egg beater in the house. It was the first thing she had needed that she had not found. She knew she could beat the cream with a fork and determined to do it and also to ask Silas for an egg beater. Her mother had sent her a red geranium, wrapped in paper to protect it from the cold ride from the farm. She put it on the table by the window where they ate and it brightened the whole room. Her mother had several oxalis pots and she determined to ask Silas to make her a swinging bracket for some of them. A bracket shelf was one on hinges so the plants on it could be turned into the room away from the glass in the window when it got extremely cold. So far she had not had to ask her husband to buy her anything, and now she wondered if asking for two things at once would be too much. She decided to find out when Silas returned. Silas said, "My wife, my dear little wife, I will make your bracket and get you an egg beater, whatever that may be, this very day." Later, as she sat before the fire working on her rug, Silas left for awhile and when he returned he had made the bracket that she wanted in his workshop in one side of the woodshed. "I will get the hinges to hold it to the window frame when I go to town to get your egg beater," he told her. "There was no need for you to hurry with it as you have for I have not yet asked my mother for oxilas bulbs," she told him, but she was pleased and let him know it. It was a nice bracket, smooth and well put together. That afternoon Silas stained and varnished it, so it was ready for hanging. The wind had stopped blowing. Silas put on a warm coat and walked to town for the things he needed. He determined to make a corner shelf affair called a what not since Hannah had been so pleased with the bracket shelf. He spent a lot of time in his workshop. One day he brought it in and put it up in one corner of the living room. Hannah's brown eyes sparkled with pleasure. She went to the big chest and found the very sized doilies to put under the album; then found some fancy dishes for the other shelves; a covered candy or jam dish, some flower vases and a puter bowl. Together they were making a house into a home. Silas made a trip South and returned home safely. He felt one more trip would finish all he had to do. It was spring and planting time before either believed it could be possible. One week they decided to go to the farm to get starts from Mother Russell's flower garden plants for Hannah's town house yard. They rode home with Father Russell when he came to town on Saturday. That afternoon they dug small lilac trees, hardy rose bushes - the red velvet and yellow ones that everyone had, a black walnut tree, and many small annual plants which they carefully put into cans or boxes where they would keep fresh. They found a small honeysuckle plant that Mother Russell thought would grow if planted carefully and cared for as hers had been for it had not been any larger when she got it years before. That night they slept in Hannah's small upstairs bedroom which seemed bare and smaller than it had seemed before, with the big chest and her personal things all gone from it. Sunday morning they all went to church. Hannah enjoyed the services. She had not been to church services since her marriage more than three months before. In the afternoon Father Russell took them home. The next day she and Silas were busy planting the things she had dug. The yard had never been planted to anything and all that was in it was wild grass. Silas spaded and dug where Hannah instructed. She, who had always had flowers in her family home, could visualize how it would look here in a few weeks. Silas who had never seen a really beautiful flower garden, worked only to please Hannah. She explained how she would like to have heavy cord or wires put up so the windows would be shaded by the morning glory plants and the honeysuckle vine. The honeysuckle vine would come up larger and stronger each year, but the morning glories might need to be planted each spring although many times they did reseed themselves. As the season progressed, there was a profusion of blooms each new day. Silas wondered how one so young knew what to plant so there would always be flowers to pick to brighten the house. Hannah worked each morning in the flowers. Silas did what he could to help her, but he admitted that he did not know a tiny flower plant from a weed. He liked the morning glories best of all. They shaded the windows from the sun and he could see the bright flowers from inside the house. Each day he realized anew that his young wife was a real prize. One morning in August, Hannah awakened with a headache. When she tried to get up, she felt sick and nauseated. It was the first time she had ever felt ill. Silas made her a cup of hot green tea and brought it to her in bed, telling her to lie still and rest awhile. She went back to sleep and the next time she awakened she felt as well as ever. She stretched, got up and dressed, feeling no return of the early morning illness. Silas was in the woodshed getting his daily exercise chopping wood. Hannah fixed him a good lunch and had it ready when he came in with his usual armload of wood. He greeted her with a smile and a hug, "How do you feel now, my dear little wife?" he asked. "As well as ever," she replied. But alas, it did not last, for the next morning and the next and the next it was the same thing. One day Silas told her he suspected she was going to have a baby. She had not been very old when Ike and Linn were born and if her mother had been sick this way, she had not known about it. Hannah did not know whether to be glad or sorry, but she knew Silas was pleased. When the illness did not occur for several days and she was otherwise feeling fine, she dismissed the idea of a baby from her mind and worked daily in her flower garden. Soon she knew that Silas had been right. One night she shyly told him, "You were right, my husband. I am carrying our baby, but I feel fine so do not worry about me. I am young and strong and I expected to have a family when we married. But I shall need materials for baby clothes, and I do not want to wait too long to start making them." The next time Silas went to town he brought home a bolt of white outing flannel for diapers. He told Hannah the storekeeper had told him he seemed more like a grandfather than a father. Silas was nearly forty, but looked younger because he always kept his hair and beard neatly trimmed. He looked no older than he had the first time she had seen him. She still thought him the most handsome man she had ever seen. Hannah made the diapers with tiny stitches on the cut sides of the material. She had no sewing machine. Silas bought more outing flannel and she made nightgowns and long undershirts from it. Silas hoped the baby would be a boy. He decided to make his last trip South in March so he would be home when the baby was born. Click here to continue to Chapter Fourteen Click here to return to My Strong Family.....So Far
Saturday came and with it her father with a load of farm produce that the cold weather would not harm. He brought rich country milk and cream as a gift. "Thy mother sent these to thee," he said. "Do thee wish to come outside and see if there is ought else thee would like?"
"Let Silas make the choices there," she replied. Silas went out with her father and the two men returned with several winter vegetables, a dressed chicken, a big home-cured ham, butter and a pie pumpkin - all they could carry.
Silas said he believed he would go with Father Russell to make his deliveries as he had several times in the past.
As soon as they were gone, Hannah washed the pumpkin and quickly fixed it for cooking. "I'll make my husband a pumpkin pie topped with fresh whipped cream," she said to herself.
Then she discovered that there was no egg beater in the house. It was the first thing she had needed that she had not found. She knew she could beat the cream with a fork and determined to do it and also to ask Silas for an egg beater.
Her mother had sent her a red geranium, wrapped in paper to protect it from the cold ride from the farm. She put it on the table by the window where they ate and it brightened the whole room. Her mother had several oxalis pots and she determined to ask Silas to make her a swinging bracket for some of them. A bracket shelf was one on hinges so the plants on it could be turned into the room away from the glass in the window when it got extremely cold. So far she had not had to ask her husband to buy her anything, and now she wondered if asking for two things at once would be too much. She decided to find out when Silas returned.
Silas said, "My wife, my dear little wife, I will make your bracket and get you an egg beater, whatever that may be, this very day."
Later, as she sat before the fire working on her rug, Silas left for awhile and when he returned he had made the bracket that she wanted in his workshop in one side of the woodshed.
"I will get the hinges to hold it to the window frame when I go to town to get your egg beater," he told her.
"There was no need for you to hurry with it as you have for I have not yet asked my mother for oxilas bulbs," she told him, but she was pleased and let him know it. It was a nice bracket, smooth and well put together. That afternoon Silas stained and varnished it, so it was ready for hanging.
The wind had stopped blowing. Silas put on a warm coat and walked to town for the things he needed. He determined to make a corner shelf affair called a what not since Hannah had been so pleased with the bracket shelf.
He spent a lot of time in his workshop. One day he brought it in and put it up in one corner of the living room. Hannah's brown eyes sparkled with pleasure. She went to the big chest and found the very sized doilies to put under the album; then found some fancy dishes for the other shelves; a covered candy or jam dish, some flower vases and a puter bowl. Together they were making a house into a home.
Silas made a trip South and returned home safely. He felt one more trip would finish all he had to do.
It was spring and planting time before either believed it could be possible. One week they decided to go to the farm to get starts from Mother Russell's flower garden plants for Hannah's town house yard. They rode home with Father Russell when he came to town on Saturday. That afternoon they dug small lilac trees, hardy rose bushes - the red velvet and yellow ones that everyone had, a black walnut tree, and many small annual plants which they carefully put into cans or boxes where they would keep fresh. They found a small honeysuckle plant that Mother Russell thought would grow if planted carefully and cared for as hers had been for it had not been any larger when she got it years before.
That night they slept in Hannah's small upstairs bedroom which seemed bare and smaller than it had seemed before, with the big chest and her personal things all gone from it. Sunday morning they all went to church. Hannah enjoyed the services. She had not been to church services since her marriage more than three months before.
In the afternoon Father Russell took them home. The next day she and Silas were busy planting the things she had dug. The yard had never been planted to anything and all that was in it was wild grass. Silas spaded and dug where Hannah instructed. She, who had always had flowers in her family home, could visualize how it would look here in a few weeks. Silas who had never seen a really beautiful flower garden, worked only to please Hannah. She explained how she would like to have heavy cord or wires put up so the windows would be shaded by the morning glory plants and the honeysuckle vine. The honeysuckle vine would come up larger and stronger each year, but the morning glories might need to be planted each spring although many times they did reseed themselves.
As the season progressed, there was a profusion of blooms each new day. Silas wondered how one so young knew what to plant so there would always be flowers to pick to brighten the house.
Hannah worked each morning in the flowers. Silas did what he could to help her, but he admitted that he did not know a tiny flower plant from a weed. He liked the morning glories best of all. They shaded the windows from the sun and he could see the bright flowers from inside the house. Each day he realized anew that his young wife was a real prize.
One morning in August, Hannah awakened with a headache. When she tried to get up, she felt sick and nauseated. It was the first time she had ever felt ill. Silas made her a cup of hot green tea and brought it to her in bed, telling her to lie still and rest awhile. She went back to sleep and the next time she awakened she felt as well as ever. She stretched, got up and dressed, feeling no return of the early morning illness.
Silas was in the woodshed getting his daily exercise chopping wood. Hannah fixed him a good lunch and had it ready when he came in with his usual armload of wood. He greeted her with a smile and a hug, "How do you feel now, my dear little wife?" he asked.
"As well as ever," she replied. But alas, it did not last, for the next morning and the next and the next it was the same thing.
One day Silas told her he suspected she was going to have a baby. She had not been very old when Ike and Linn were born and if her mother had been sick this way, she had not known about it.
Hannah did not know whether to be glad or sorry, but she knew Silas was pleased.
When the illness did not occur for several days and she was otherwise feeling fine, she dismissed the idea of a baby from her mind and worked daily in her flower garden. Soon she knew that Silas had been right. One night she shyly told him, "You were right, my husband. I am carrying our baby, but I feel fine so do not worry about me. I am young and strong and I expected to have a family when we married. But I shall need materials for baby clothes, and I do not want to wait too long to start making them."
The next time Silas went to town he brought home a bolt of white outing flannel for diapers. He told Hannah the storekeeper had told him he seemed more like a grandfather than a father. Silas was nearly forty, but looked younger because he always kept his hair and beard neatly trimmed. He looked no older than he had the first time she had seen him. She still thought him the most handsome man she had ever seen.
Hannah made the diapers with tiny stitches on the cut sides of the material. She had no sewing machine. Silas bought more outing flannel and she made nightgowns and long undershirts from it. Silas hoped the baby would be a boy. He decided to make his last trip South in March so he would be home when the baby was born.
Click here to continue to Chapter Fourteen Click here to return to My Strong Family.....So Far
