He-Gwe's Presence in This House

I don't really know much about Bob's dad.  He died on February 14 (yes, Valentine's Day), 1973-- several years before Bob and I met.

Getting to find out a little bit more about him was one of the  unexpected blessings we received when going through Bob's mother's things after her death.  And in spite of the the fact that Ira Allen bears his name, this man had never been referred to by any other term than "your dad's dad".  The kids crafted the name "He-gwe" during this time of semi-revelation.  Yes, that's an unusual name, but Bob's mom was Gwe-Gwe (a story of its own).

There are a couple of random everyday things I've always done in our household that commemorate this man of mystery.  I don't think I've ever really shared this with my children, so I'm thinking now might be the time.

We always use Lea & Perrins worcestershire sauce because that's what he used.

 (and yes, those are tomatoes and peppers out of our garden...He-Gwe's dad was a farmer who sold his produce commercially using hot caps to get an early start.)

We use Oral B toothbrushes because that's what he preferred.

And there are a couple of things that we deliberately do differently than he did but which recall his memory none-the-less:

We only set one alarm clock every night.  He-Gwe always set two.  One was a wind-up clock; one was electric.  What if there were an electrical outage or he forgot to re-wind?  He did NOT want to be late for work and jeopardize his job.  He was very proud to be a USPS mail carrier.  (Yep, they were most likely called mailmen back then--)  Considering that he only had an 8th grade education, he had done very well for himself and his family.  He had a reason to be proud!

...and we do NOT use a hand-cranked ice cream freezer and chip ice off of a 25 lb. block of ice when we make homemade ice cream. When Bob told me of this little quirk of his dad's, Bob was given a choice: If we used bagged, crushed ice and an electric freezer, we would have homemade ice cream very often; if we used a hand-cranked freezer and block ice, the making of ice cream at home would be a very special (and rare) event.  I think you know what Bob chose!

He-Gwe, we think of you in these little ways and wish we could have really known you!

Hot Caps

I'm here at home at 11:30 on a Tuesday morning. It is 20 degrees outside and we have snow flurries. You guessed it: A Snow Day! (Actually, it's more of a sleet/ice day.)

My sweet little, hard-working, organic-farming husband worked so hard last weekend for this:



What you're seeing here is 102 broccoli, 25 lettuce, and 25 spinach plants all tucked neatly under their "hot caps". (Plus an abundance of onion plants--for all but you, Chris!)

Last year, Bob remembered that his grandfather had used "hotcaps" in his garden and did a little internet research and found a site that sold them. He used them last year and was able to plant early, avoid freeze and frost damage, and harvest a bit early. He tried it again this year: Planted on a day in late January--the 28th-- when the the temperatures were close to 80...and then the next week (whoops!): well, we're expecting a low of 9 degrees tomorrow night... Hmmm....will the hot caps be "hot" enough?? We're gonna have to wait and see!

The "story" behind all of this?

Well, I was visiting a bit with Aunt Ruby (that's Gwe-Gwe's [Bob's mother] sister) last spring. I had just assumed that Bob's grandfather from which he had the memories was Opah (Bob's mom's dad). But, it wasn't! It was Grandpa Spies.

Turns out that Grandpa Spies made part of his living by selling produce to the stores in town: The earlier you were able to harvest things like broccoli, lettuces, and tomatoes, the higher price you could expect. So, I'm thinking Grandpa Spies was quite progressive in his thinking and his risk-taking...way to go Grandpa! Hope it works in Glen Rose, Texas in 2011, too!

I hope to find a picture of Grandpa Spies to add to this post...

An addendum:
Bob added his additional memories: He said his Grandpa and Granny Spies had this little business after their "retirement". They sold their farm in Carmine and moved to Brenham where Grandpa farmed the lot and 2 others (about an acre in all) and sold his produce to the grocery stores. The "hot caps" were his ticket to being one of the first to be able to deliver fresh, home-grown tomatoes to the stores.

Bob also added that while his Grandpa and Granny still lived on the farm, his Grandpa had a "giant" broiler house. (How big is "giant" to a kid?) No need to wonder any longer why Bob Spies has this drive to raise chickens and garden....