Monday, September 23, 2013

JEAN'S GRANDMOTHER OLIVE IS BACK

Jean did her three this month and now it is time for someone else to do it, so I agreed this time.  There are five Monday's this month, so I don't know who will do the next one.  Elmer thinks you might be getting tired of him, but I don't think so.  Anyway, I am going to answer some of the questions you asked me.

How many times a year do we have gatherings of 400 people like we did at Easter?  We usually have that once or twice a year, here.  At lot of people came this summer when we had one as everyone wanted to see David, Jean's and our new, to us, house.  Also family have them another couple of times a year in other states as we have relatives there.  Albert and I usually go to the ones just in New York State.  We are getting to old to travel around like we use to do.

With 200 in our immediate family, do I remember all of their names?  No.  I try.  I really do, but sometimes you get people's names mixed up especially the grand children, and great-grandchildren. I remember my children's names, but I do get them little ones names mixed up.

We have a large family people, some come in from out of state.  As we have many relatives local, we find places for our out of state relatives to stay.  Say the gathering is on Saturday and it is going to be at Jean's. On Thursday we clean the house from top to bottom.  The men clean the barns and set up the tables.  Every family that comes brings a dish to pass.  We at Jean's do a great deal of cooking and baking on Friday.  We want to make sure there is enough food - but we usually have lots more that enough.  On Saturday when everyone arrives, we ladies take care of the kitchen.  The young folks usually play baseball or volley ball.  The men talk and make sure the tables are in order.  Many times we have some neighbors and friends over, too.  At noon, we say a prayer and eat.  After milking the cows in the evening, we eat again.  Ladies spend the day in the kitchen or talking or working on a quilt, etc.  The men talk.  The young folks play.  When everyone leaves, those ladies home clean up the kitchen while the men take down the tables.

No we do not believe in cutting our hair.  We never cut it during our lifetime.  We don't trim it at all.  The only time we are allowed to have our hair cut is if you have to have head surgery that means cutting the hair. We base this on 1 Corinthians 11:15 "But if a woman have long hair it is a glory to her; for her hair is given her for a covering,"

Albert and I grew up in the State of Pennsylvania.

I know there is another question, but I will wait until I do another post to answer that one.

Follow God,
Olive

ELMER IS BACK NEXT MONDAY ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS,

12 comments:

New York State Of Mind said...

Good Morning,
So happy that we could get Olive back again. Jean will be back on October 7th.

Marilyn

New York State Of Mind said...

It may be a while before I have any new pictures. My camera died. I got all the pictures from the Jim Erdle Tractor auction, and when I went to use it again, it wouldn't work. It's only a little over a year old. I've had it looked at and was told what it would cost to fix it, I could buy a new one. But right now I can't afford a new one. I would name get that same make again. Trying to see if someone has one in the apartments they never use and would want to get rid of. So far I haven't had much luck. I do have some pictures that I haven't used for posts yet, so I will be okay for a little while. Don't know what caused this as I never dropped the camera or anything like that.

Marilyn

Vickie said...

Interesting post, thank you!
Maybe you would have luck finding a camera on Craigslist? You did well with Pierre there! ;)
You should check out my post from yesterday Marilyn. Henry and Mabel are on. =)

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Vickie,
I never thought of that. I will check Craigslist. I did very, very well there with Pierre. What I want to do is see if I can get two. If one goes I have a back up.

I sure will check our your post. I want to see Henry and Mabel.

Marilyn

Countryside Reflections said...

It's so nice to hear from Olive. I love hearing about those huge family gatherings, and trying to picture how it is all arranged at one families home. It's very impressive.

Wow, the women never cut their hair in their life time. I thought that maybe they keep it long and trim it from time to time, but if it never is cut, just how long does it get? My hair was to my waist until my mid 30's. It grows so fast that I think it would be to the ground in no time if I didn't trim it. Is this a typical practice with all of the Mennonite groups and the Amish too?

I love hearing from Olive and Elmer. Please encourage them to continue to post. Everything they have to say is very interesting.

Doreen

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Doreen,

Glad you enjoyed the post, I will tell Olive what you said. Also, I wrote your questions down for her.

Olive and Elmer seem to think people will get tired of them, but I tell them they are wrong. Elmer will be on next week.

Marilyn

Christine T said...

I could never get tired of any of hearing from any of you! :)

New York State Of Mind said...

Hi Christine T,
I will pass your message on to them.

Marilyn

Anonymous said...

Hi Marilyn, Looking forward to hearing from Elmer again+thank you, Grandma Olive for your posting. By-all-means, please continue to encourage them to post through you. It's always interesting. Blessings to all+HAPPY FALL! Carol

New York State Of Mind said...

Thank you Carol,
I will see they get your messages. I think we all enjoy having them here.

Blessings and Happy Fall to you to,
Marilyn

karpits said...

It is good to hear from all the great people that post for you. Keep them coming!

New York State Of Mind said...

Thank you Karpits, for your compliments. I will try to keep them coming.

Marilyn