Wednesday, November 12, 2008

I would like for you to meet The Marshall Family


Rushing in the door, running past everyone and everything she had but one thing on her mind.

It had begun to snow outside, and it would be only minutes before the ground would be covered with inches and inches of the white fluffy stuff.

It was her night to make dinner and she had just came into the little cabin from a day of reading in the hayloft. Her Ma and younger sister had spent the day making soap for the family. This morning when she had risen, her Mother gently reminded her of her duties for the day.

It was no secret in the Marshall household that Bea would rather spend her days reading and writing short stories than attending to the duties of helping with the day to day running of the house. Her parents realizing this tried to give her as much freedom as possible. Bea knew that lately she had been trying their patience more than usual. How had the time gotten away from her and she had not remembered to start the family's supper? Then with the snow coming down Pa and her bothers would be coming in from their chores earlier.

Past everyone she flew. Straight she went to the larder to see what vegetables were there. Grabbing onions, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes she would use them to make a vegetable stew. After peeling and washing the vegetables. She noticed her Ma and sister in the corner of the kitchen hurrying about to finish the soap making and put away the wash tub.

Bea often forgot how hard her Ma worked to care for her beloved family.

Bea was the oldest girl in a family of four older brothers and a baby sister. She watched as her Ma arose early ( 4 a.m. ) each morning to stoke the fire in the stove, and begin the family breakfast, before Pa, ( who had been up since 3 a.m. milking the cows came in to eat). There were biscuits to make and eggs to gather, and ham to fry. Then there was the scrambling of eggs and the making of strong black coffee to be done. Smelling the wonderful aroma of the foods cooking the others slowly began to rise Jeff the eldest of the four brothers scurried into his overalls and went out to gather wood to filled the wood box next to the stove. Then in the door came Pa with a steaming pail of milk. He set the bucket in the sink and went to give his wife a big hug and kiss. Bea could never remember a morning in all of her 17 years that her Pa had not begin his day by kissing their Ma.

Just as she begin to ponder on this, the door to the little cabin opened bring with it a Arctic blast of cold air and five men covered from head to toe in snow. They were shivering so hard they were getting snow everywhere. Paul her second brother stated that he was cold, tired and hungry. This awoken Bea to her task at hand and off she went to get supper on the table. Her Ma watching her out of the corner of her eye, was wondering what to expect next from her daydreaming daughter.

14 comments:

Mary said...

Mary,

A delightful story that brought back memories of my childhood on the farm. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you for the beautiful card that you and Kiley made for S. She is going to love it. It arrived this morning.

Blessings,
Mary

Sandi McBride said...

It reminds me so of The Little House books, which I devoured as a child. Lovely story!
hugs
Sandi

kathy said...

Mary - I am your paper doll swap partner -- Please e mail me so we can get addresses and thing s -
Love your blog -- Kathy - GA
countrychintz.blogspot.com--
e mail -- jorgramm@bellsouth.net

Mimi said...

this sounds like it is going to be a great story...I am anxious for the next chapter...
blessings,
Mimi

Denise said...

I love stories like that, it triggers wonderful memories...... thanks for sharing your wonderful stories..... I am always amazed at how you blog ladies share such stories....... I have no stories like that so I do enjoy reading these....... My swap partner is such fun and thanks for hooking us up......BUT I do miss sending you little special things...... sooooooo you WATCH your mail... you have no idea what Santa will bring !

a portland granny said...

Hope you're going to continue this story. Just the little bit you wrote, makes me realize how spoiled most of us are with all of our up to date appliances, furnaces, and all the things that make us so comfortable.
Great story.

Unknown said...

I love it when you tell us stories Mary. If you came to my house for a visit, I would take you to Orchard House and we could go on the tour of Louisa May Alcott's house together. I know that you would love it there too. Do you know that she used to babysit Emerson's children and take them to Walden Pond and tell them fairy stories? Can you imagine, Mary? To have been a writer amongst all those great ones must have been such a thrill. I love your stories. Thank you.
Blessings,
Karen

Vee said...

Very pleasant story. Reminds me of "Farmer Boy" by L.I. Wilder. Are you Bea? I think the world needs more stories like them.

tea time and roses said...

Hello Mary!

Wow this did bring back memories! I so enjoy your wonderful stories! Thank you so much! Enjoy a beautiful weekend!

Smiles...

Beverly

ShabbyInTheCity said...

Bravo! Clapping hands here :)
I never even thought about how the milk might be steaming from the warm cow!
Uh-Oh...Country Chintz as a partner...I had her for a swap and she never sent anything. No thank you either when I sent her a box full of NICE things. Beware!

Back Through Time said...

What a wonderful sweet story!!
Hope you are having a great weekend!
Michelle

Farmhouse Blessings said...

Beautifully written. I could just see the story unfolding in my imagination. Did you write it?

Smiles,
Lea

GingerLouise Clothing said...

Mary, Your such a good writer and I love the subject matter. I was so easy to get a clear image in my mind of the characters. Will you continue this same story. Did you ever read House Above the Trees? It's my favorite.

Lee said...

Like Sandi, I too read the Little House books by Wilder. This does remind me of quite a few of those scenes, even from the TV show.

This is a great post and I can clearly visualize things from your writing.

Thanks for visiting my blog.

God's Peace!
Lee