Grandma and grandpa had a big garden , the best sweet corn and asparagus.

she would get the water ready and then send me out to pick some ears and shuck , they weren't 15 minutes off the stalk and we were eating them.

Thanksgiving and Easter started with work
could be firewood at either to be stacked
getting the snowmobiles down at thanksgiving and going back up in the racks in the garage at Easter with fuel drained and foil in all the intakes and exhaust

women in the house getting the food ready
men my dad , grandpa , and my moms 5 brothers out in the garage

at Christmas we would put the ice shack on the 2 hauler trailer that tilted so right after the new year it could go out to the lake.
6 people could pick it up from where it sat next to the wood pile and set it on the trailer fairly easy.

with so many people it never really seemed like work. plenty of talking and beer drinking.

they would watch the packer game in the afternoon after we had eaten.

my Grandfather was a barber in a small town and I got to hang out there listening to all the Hunting, Fishing and Trapping adventures of all them Old Timers...Talk about a young man in Heaven....Great memories.

I never met my Grandpaps since they died before I was born. One died in a coal mine accident in PA and the other one was born in 1867, two years after the Civil War. Wished I could have met them and especially talk history with them about living in the 1800’s. However, I have fond memories of both my Grandmothers. Gulo, I miss seeing the lighting bugs every summer out here.

my grandma was born in 1899, passed in 2001,, thee stories she could tell about her life growing up, spent many hours listening to her.

Since this is a great thread and I don't want it to die yet.....

Smash, my grandmother is a lot like yours was. I spent much of my life between the ages of 5-20 living with my grandparents, with a few of those years living on my own.

But anyways....

When my grandfather was still working, he'd get up around 5 to get ready for work, and my grandma would too. After he left, she stayed up, and had most of her housework done by noon. At 10am she'd stop and eat breakfast, which was usually a jelly donut... and do the crossword puzzle from the local newspaper. Then back to work until 2pm... when everything came to a screeching halt for her to watch As The World Turns. After that, at 3pm, it was Guiding Light. After the VCR was invented, she also watched General Hospital, and, in his later years, she even got my grandpa to watch that one at night, LOL.

Also like you, I was my grandpa's shadow. When I was little, he would get home from work around 4pm... and we'd usually spend the evening in his garage fixing whatever needed fixed.... cars, 3-wheelers, snow machines, chainsaws....whatever. I learned enough to not quite be a mechanic, lol, but to be able to do simple mechanical repairs.

The weekends, in winter, were reserved for making firewood. We'd take his old Model A John Deere down to the woods he owned way out back, and haul out a dead tree or two.... then he'd saw them into pieces while I split them into firewood.

If you read any of my stories you know I had a great time as a kid, especially at my grandparents acreage! If I were to start talking about them and their place It would easily rin into pages and pages. I love them and miss them bother terribly

One of my granparents was a big time rabbit hunter with beagles.My beagle Musket was his favorite male beagle name.Was why I named him Musket after my grandfather.

My grandfather was a state trapper. Used water sets exclusively when fox/coyote trapping. Thought that snaring a fox was not "fair" to the fox. When eastern coyotes came into southern NY and north Jersey, if he caught one it was a "brush wolf" but when I got one it was just a coyote. Gramma Space had the general store in Beemerville, NJ. She would bake pies all morning and sell them. When you bought a piece of pie (for a quarter) it was 1/4 of a pie, not some tiny wedge and came with a cup of coffee. One day the delivery man brought a 100 pound bag of flour. None of us were around and he refused to unload it off of his truck siteing a bad back. Gramma Space climbed up in the truck and carried it out herself at age 81..She cooked the best fried squirrel and rabbit I ever ate. Wish I knew her recipe. Gramp walked out the back door and dropped dead at 84, Gramma Space lived to almost 94.

My Grandmother was a great cook. In the 1940s through the late 50s, my Grandparents would board 15 deer hunters in their home for the first week of buck season. They slept in about every spot in the house. She’d make a hot breakfast for the 15 guys, plus for her family of six. Pack lunches for the hunters, and have a big meal ready every night. All cooked on a wood/ coal fired stove, drew water from a well. Fresh baked bread and desserts every day. And she made it look easy. She always made gravy at every meal….the best I’ve ever had. My Grandfather would kill a couple of deer before season…fellas ate a lot of deer meat that week. They paid $50 for the week, room and meals. Plus my Grandfather guided the crew.

I have friends today who need to take off two work in order to prepare for a Thanksgiving dinner for ten people. And that’s with a gas range, microwaves, etc. Not to mention running water. Folks today are soft.

I never knew my dads mom. She died birthing their 11th child. My dad went to live with his aunt and uncle. I called them g'ma and g'pa. He was a great old dude. He gave me my first taste of beer at 5. He had a dog that lived to be 18. For supper that dog got to eat whatever he was having and got a beer to go with it. She lived to be 95 and was pretty cool. I just remember her setting her hair every night. She was a great cook. They lived on one of the most dangerous streets in one of the most dangerous cities around.

My moms parents are who I spent most of my time with. My grandfather would let me drive his tractor around the fields. He had 2 beagle, rebel and fanny. My job when I go visit was to run them in the fields. Great memories of chasing them 2 all over the township. He'd plant a huge garden and I'd go over and help him pick and sell the veggies. I remember people stopping and him yelling 2 dozen ears of corn and 5 tomatoes and having to run down to the garden and pick them fresh. All the cousins would get together and go over and sit under his grape arbor and eat black cherries and grapes until we were sick. He used to laugh at his yard with all the puke spots from us gorging ourselves. But being kids we'd be over there the next week doing it again. He was a jack of all trades. He could fix anything. Later in life he tried to get his pilots license. My mom had a rule that us kids weren't allowed to go up with him. One day he took my sister up. He landed that plane on the road in front of the house when my mom came to pick us up. To say that she was mad would be an understatement. My sister was one not to lie and proceeded to tell my mom that they had followed her from our house to his from the air.

My grandmother was little bitty thing that wielded a mean dish towel. One time I wrecked a dirt bike and lied to her about what happened. My uncle knew the deal and told me if I didn't tell my mom the truth he would. So there I was sitting at the top of the cellar steps and was telling my mom what happened. The next thing I knew I felt a sting on the back of my head and I was going head over heels down the steps. I never lied to her again.

My great grandmothers on my moms side were really formulative in my younger years. My one taught me to sew and grow flowers. My one aunt lived in CA and she went out to visit. Well my cousins out there found out what a great flower gardener she was. They had her grow MJ plants. When they got to be about 5 feet tall she started asking what they were. They told her they were western marigolds. I'm not sure if she ever knew what they were. If she did she never let on.

The other great grand mother was an old school farmers wife. We'd spend hours talking and snapping beans. I'd go over and help her clean her house inside and out. She never got scared of bees or wasps. She's be snapping beans and a wasp would land on her. No reaction from her at all. She'd just keep on snapping. I asked her one time why she never worried about them stinging her. She said if you don't start swatting at them they'd leave you alone. If you start slapping and waving your arms they'd turn on you. She said that worked for all bees and wasps except white/bald faced hornets. She said they're buttholes and they'll sting you just because you're there.

I had both grandparents thru most of my life. Very very thankful and fortunate. My last grandmother passed away 5 years ago. She still remembered my name. I was her 1st grandchild. I am 60 years old.

Both sides were dairy farmers. I spent most of my childhood on the farms in the summer. Until they retired. I learned a lot from them. Hard work. Never quit and never give up was there motto.