Sweet Southern Simplicity

Pictures Added

2010-02-21T20:42:00.001-06:00

I got down to the station this weekend and found some pictures of the old building so I added them to Tearing Down A Little Part of History. I also added some more pictures of my pa and my dad.

Southern Snow

2010-02-18T22:51:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago we finally got a good snow. These are far and few between now. I just love the way it looks when the snow falls on the fields. God blanketed our whole area with several inches. This old tractor shed sits in the field directly behind our house. It is one of my favorite pictures in the winter.

Bama really didn't seem to mind the snow!

When I was younger and it would snow, we would get the old big red three-wheeler that was my grandfather's out and play. Now, my cousins get to ride behind it like I did when I was there age.

Our neighbor even came over and pulled the girls behind the Bonnie Lee. The three-wheeler needed a break. After all it is from 1970 something!

This is the first big snow the girls have ever got to play in. They made sure to make the most of it.

Here is a family picture.

The view from our house is so beautiful when its snows. It is hard to believe that we live in town with all this land around us.

I actually got to get the sled I got for Christmas when I was 6 out and put it in the snow. I think this is the first time it has been out since 1987. It still hasn't really been used and probably won't be. The man at the hardware told Dad this type of sled is expensive now. So I guess I will just save it!

And yes that is me. Mom made me pose for the picture in all my garb. I am wearing a pair of Dad's coveralls from the 1970s. They are my new fave for cold weather and snow, even though I look ridiculous, because they are so warm and dry.

All in all we had a wonderful afternoon in the snow. It was wonderful to spend time with family and enjoy the beauty of God's majesty.

Lots of new photos!

2010-02-18T22:19:00.000-06:00

I finally downloaded a bunch of pictures that were on my camera so I have lots of new things to post. So don't be surprised of you see Christmas pictures on here before too long. I have discovered that working on my blog is a great distraction from working on my school work!

Tearing Down a Little Piece of History

2010-02-16T14:54:00.005-06:00

Portland lost a little piece of history last month. The state finally tore down my grandfather's old service station, Shell City Garage. This has been a long process that started ten years ago with the proposed widening of Highway 109. And as anyone can imagine, any dealings with the state are difficult and very frustrating. My family has dealt with a lot from the state and the city through this process. But after three years of waiting for this building to be torn down it is close to being over, we hope.

We believe the building was built in the 1930s by Charles and Lloyd Deasey. Several businesses were in the building before my grandfather bought it in 1962. After he bought it, it was 8 years before he actually decided to move his business from the building that used to be next door. You can see it in the corner of this picture.

Here are a couple of pictures from 1955 of the first building.

My grandfather started Shell City Garage in 1951. He, along with some of his friends, worked on cars, tractors, trucks, just about anything, as well as sold gas and ran a wrecker service. My grandfather was Howard "Soap" Crafton. I still do not know where the nickname came from, but that is what everyone called him except us.

Shell City is the only place my father has ever worked, first in a building next door, then in this one and now the new one he had to build. He worked alongside his father until Pa became ill in the late 1980's. Following my grandfather's death on March 1, 1988, my father continued to work out of this building.

There are lots of memories in that old building. My mother's nephews worked there while they were in school. We all played there as we were growing up. Most of my grandfather's and my father's friends spent time just loafing. Lots of dart games were thrown in the back and lots of checkers played atop a 5-gallon bucket in the office. This building has been a part of Portland for many years.

It has been very interesting this week to see the people who have stopped by to watch the demolition, tell stories, and help my family salvage what we can. I feel that my family is truly blessed with the wonderful people who understand the importance of this building to Portland's past and my family's history.

The contractors showed up on Monday morning and said they would get started on Tuesday. But when Dad returned from lunch on Monday, they were already working on tearing down the bathrooms and the office.

By the time I got to the station, a group of men were already standing around watching the demolition.

I love that last picture of Dad looking in the door where the office used to be. He has so many memories in that office.

After the crew left on Monday evening, we decided to go through once again and see if there was anything else we wanted to try to salvage. When Dad pulled a piece of board off that held old gaskets and such, we discovered a little Federal Mogul man that had been pasted to the wall before Pa bought the building in 1962. We were all quite surprised and pleased with the find.

Jim Donoho also decided he wanted the old bus seats that were in the back for people to sit on. Dad told him to back his Daihatsu farm truck in there and we would load them up. We also loaded up a bunch of little junk just to keep. I think it was very appropriate that Jim's truck will be the last vehicle in the building because his family was one of Shell City Garage's first customers and our families have been friends for many generations.

Tuesday the crew was supposed to return that morning and continue the demolition. When they told Dad early, they meant early. Dad called me at 7:30 am and told me to come on down because one of the sides and the back was already gone.

A group of spectators were already assembled to watch. All of these people were tied together by this building and my grandfather and father.

We collected a nice stack of bricks from the old chimney in the back. I am not sure what I am going to do with them yet but I will find something I am sure.

My cousins also wanted blocks from the wall so we grabbed a few of those.

Jim wanted some of the old tiles from the roof so Barry Wilson and Don Flemming got a ladder and climbed up on the roof and pulled a bunch off.

Joey Collins told Dad to take the cabinet doors where the dart board used to hang, so we stopped the demolition and got those.

The people doing the demolition were getting a little upset but my father told them that it had taken 3 years to get the building torn down, another 15 minutes wouldn't hurt anything.

Most people cleared out for lunch, including the work crew. Work definitely slowed down in the afternoon. People stopped back by expecting to see a huge difference, but there was little progress made.

Around 3:00 pm someone talked to the people doing the demolition and the process sped up. Before it got dark, the rest of the building was leveled.

There is a funny story about the barrel in the middle of the picture. Two of these barrels were used to support the end of the oil rack that my dad used to pull cars on to change the oil. Each barrel was fastened to the ground with an axel and filled with concrete. When the driver grabbed that barrel he thought he would crush it up, but he was sadly mistaken!

Here is a picture of the new building. Believe it or not I didn't have a picture of the old station on my computer so I will have to add one later. I have several in frames at the station. You can see a bit of the old station in the left of this picture.

Three Generations of Shell City Garage

(1951-1970)

(1970-2006)

(2006-Present)

Old-fashioned Country Ham

2010-02-15T16:48:00.010-06:00

One of our Christmas traditions is to buy a country ham each year. (For those of you who don't know, a country ham is salt cured ham) We generally have half of it sliced to fry Christmas morning when Mom's family comes to breakfast and cook the other half for Christmas Eve when we have Dad's family for dinner. We have cooked ham lots of different way in the past, but we have gone back to the old-fashioned way in a lard stand because it is simple and delicious! Both of my great-grandmothers used to cook hams like this along with several of my family's friends.

I begin by washing our old lard stand really well (since we only use it once a year) and then fill it with enough water to cover the ham when I put it in. The lard stand gets placed on the stove and I wait for the water to boil. (This takes a while) While waiting for the water to boil, I clean the ham really well, scraping the mold off. (A country ham is NOT bad if it has mold on it, just scrape it off and wash the ham. DO NOT throw the ham out) Some people will soak the ham overnight to get some of the salt out. I usually don't do this because I think cooking the ham in the water takes some of the salt out. After the water begins to boil, place the ham in the lard stand and put the lid on. Turn the heat down a little and let it boil 5 – 10 minutes per pound. I usually boil our half ham for an hour.

After an hour, the lard stand comes off the stove and gets wrapped in several quilts or wool blankets. Twine is then tied around it to ensure that it stays wrapped up. I usually put the bundle in a box (a paper box works really well) and leave it alone for anywhere from 12 – 24 hours. I will usually wrap another blanket around the box just for some extra insulation. The ham cooks in the boiling water overnight. (Sorry I didn't get any pictures of this)

The next day, the lard stand is unwrapped and the water is drained off the ham. Believe it or not the water will still be quite hot. I usually do this outside so the greasy water doesn't go down the drain. Then, the ham comes back in and gets some of the fat sliced off while it is still warm and easy to cut. (You don't have to do this but we try to be a little bit healthier these days!)

This is my favorite time because I usually slice a bit off to see how good it tastes!

If it is not time to serve the ham, wrap it up and refrigerate it until time to glaze and serve.

To make the glaze, I combine pineapple juice, ginger ale, brown sugar, a pinch of dried mustard, and sorghum (I prefer this over molasses) in a sauce pan. I let this come to a boil and then simmer for a few minutes. Sometimes I will add some crushed pineapple if I have some. While the glaze is simmering, I prepare the ham. I place the ham in my roaster and put pineapple slices all over the ham, securing these with toothpicks. I then take the glaze and pour some over the ham. Then the ham goes in the oven at about 350 for 30 minutes or until warm, basting with the glaze as necessary. Sometimes if I am not running low on sorghum I will drizzle some over the ham before it goes in the oven. (I have a tendency to be stingy with my sorghum because I always run out before late summer)

At my house we like the ham at room temperature, not warm from the oven so I will let the ham sit for a while to cool off. If there is any glaze left I will serve it for anyone who wants it on their ham. I also usually garnish the platter of sliced ham with the pineapple slices. The left over ham makes great sandwiches after Christmas!

(I was so busy with Christmas Eve dinner that I didn't take any pictures after I sliced the ham. Sorry, but trust me it was delicious!)

Winter Ready

2010-01-06T10:41:00.011-06:00

Several years ago, I found this wonderful coat in my grandmother's closet. It belonged to her years ago. I loved the princess seams and the detachable fur trim collar. I decided to pull it out and wear it this winter.

But I needed a hat, scarf, and mittens to match. So I decided to make a set. I found this yarn at Hobby Lobby, it’s the store brand, Yarn Bee. (As much as I love nice, expensive yarn I am a knitter on a budget and this is a great alternative) I fell in love with this yarn and have bought several different colors for various projects. It is melody bulky wool blend in ivory and is 70% wool and 30% polyester. I also used a gold yarn to trim all three pieces.

I started with the mittens. The sleeves on the coat are a little short (my theory is that the sleeves are actually three-quarter length but my arms are really short so they are bracelet length on me) so I decided to make my mittens a little longer. I skimmed through several books and took ideas from different patterns. The gold stripes on the mittens originally started out as ruffles but I didn't like the look so I decided to stitch them down. This was my first attempt at mittens and I am very pleased with how they turned out.

The hat was next. This was a little more difficult. I knew I wanted a cloche-style hat but I couldn't find anything that I liked. I went through the tons of books I have here at home and finally remembered a book I had tucked away with a hat on the cover. Well, I started out by following the pattern exactly. When I finished I tried the hat on and it was WAY too tall and poofy. So I decided to rip the top out and remake the hat again. This time I took all the increases and cut about 2 ¾" out of the top of the hat. When I finished this time I fit much better. I wish I had done a couple more rounds before I started my decreases so the hat would come down a little bit longer. But I am not remaking the hat again!

After the hat was finished I felt like it needed a flower or something by the ruffle. So I decided to crochet a small flower out of the same gold yarn that I used to trim the gloves and the hat ruffle. I used an old pearl button from my grandmother's in the middle of the flower.

Finally, I started on the scarf. I wasn't sure what I wanted, so I decided to carry the ruffle idea from the hat to the scarf. I also decided to include a few rows of seed stitch before I started the plain knit. The scarf didn't need to be very long since the coat has a fur collar so I made it short so it can be tucked into the collar.
I trimmed the edge of the hat ruffle with a single crochet and the edge of the scarf ruffle with a half-double crochet.

I am now using the same yarn to make some legwarmers to wear this winter under my skirts to help stay warm. I will post pictures when I get them finished!

New Year!

2010-01-06T10:37:00.003-06:00

Well it is a new year and I have not been doing so well with updating my blog. I am going to try to do better this year. Last semester at school got really overwhelming so I didn't have much time to devote to my blog. I also made some changes with my major and I am now getting my certification to teach Family and Consumer Sciences. I am really excited about this change, especially with my degree in textiles. The time I have spent in FACs classroom has felt really natural and comfortable. I definitely feel this is the direction God is calling me and I am very excited about what the new year holds!

Birthday Presents

2009-07-06T09:06:00.016-05:00

Life had been busy around here. I finished my first summer class on Thursday in Educational Psychology and I now have a week off before I start my next two summer classes in Theater Appreciation and Journalism. During my Ed Psych class I also had a car show in Bowling Green to attend, kraut to make and can out, birthday presents to make, and my cousin's wedding with which to help. Needless to say June was a very busy month around the Crafton house so I haven't had time post anything.

My mother and my grandmother have birthdays which fall less than one week apart. This year I decided to embroider a present for each of them. For my mother, I made a piece she can hang in the bathroom which is decorated with lighthouses. I used a piece of loosely woven cotton in a natural color. I also used an iron-on transfer to stitch by. I am not a very good artist so I rely on other resources for some of my pieces.

After I finished stitching, I framed it in a simple wide black frame with a white and black matte. I wanted to used a white frame with a beach feel to it, however she already has some things framed in black in the bathroom.

The walls have recently been painted blue so the black frame and white matte go really well with the paint.

For my grandmother's gift I decided to embroider a large flour sack towel. I purchased the towel in a pack at Hobby Lobby. Once again I used an iron-on transfer for my design.

I also added a small flower in the top corner that will show if the towel is hung by the corner.

Here is another picture of it folded nicely on the kitchen counter.

I am also working on a knitted lace trim to put on the bottom. It is a Kilgorie edge in warm rose crochet cotton. I am using size 3 Lantern Moon rosewood needles (my fave) and size 3 thread (because that was the only size I could find in a coordinating color).

Here is a close up of the lace design.

I originally wanted to use a variegated pink and white crochet thread but all I could find was a size 70 tatting thread which was a little too thin for what I wanted. But I think the warm rose will work well with the towel and the colors of floss I used.

I will post some more pictures when I finish the lace and attach it to the towel.

Strawberry Day!

2009-05-21T21:47:00.001-05:00

Every small southern town has some type of festival, Portland's just happens to be the Strawberry Festival. It has been going on for 69 years and some member of my family has been in attendance at just about every one of these events.

When I was little, I remember sitting at my Pa's service station watching the parade. We would move the two benches that were in front of the building to the road and watch. Many times my Dad would be driving the fire truck in the parade. From some reason I was scared to ride with him until I got older. But that never stopped my other cousins from riding!

Now that my Dad has a new building next to the old one my Pa worked in, we gather there every year to watch the parade. The gathering has grown by leaps and bounds. Last year we grilled out and had pork chops, hamburger, hot dogs, and all the fixings (baked beans, slaw, potato salad, etc). This year we decided to simplify: hot dogs, grilled bologna, chips, potato salad, and dessert. It was a big hit!

We had to clean up before the big day, so Thursday night two of my aunts and my Mom cleaned while my uncles and Dad sat in the back and relaxed!

The lift in the center of the garage is a perfect buffet! I think these are the perfect pictures of a red neck get-together.
When the parade started we moved to the street to watch. Derrick was so excited that he was out there waiting way before the parade even got close! Here are some of the floats from the parade.

After the parade it was time for everyone to take it easy and wait for traffic to clear up.

In fact Derrick took this a little too far . . .

Until Kelly decided he needed to take pictures of us. These were the best two. Trust me there were many, many more!

Everyone had a good time at the Strawberry Festival and left looking forward to next year!

Here you go Kelly!

2009-05-03T20:33:00.002-05:00

Well, Kelly has been after me to start a blog for months, so here it is Kelly. Now I just have to figure out what to do with it. I figured after I finished my big paper for Am. Lit 2 I deserved the time to play on the internet. I promise more will come after finals are finished in 2 weeks!