Mom and Dad were always busy with the farm. My grandfather, dad and brothers were always trying to make the farm more well known and expanding their clients in the horse business. After many years the chicken house disappeared and everything was put into horses and tobacco. Those were the two main resources of the farm. BUTT, I can remember when we had a chicken house and it was full of chickens. I loved collecting the eggs and chasing the chickens. It was not unusual for me to squeeze an egg or two just to make a mess. Mom was not too happy about the eggs being squeezed. We all lived on the farm. The Nuckols clan lived only a paddock away from one another. Nana and Dad were the head of the households. We all shared gardens, eggs, beef, and milk. Mom took it one step further and made butter, cottage cheese and butter milk. Spring was a busy time of the year on the farm. The annual garden was planted. It had everything. We all shared in its produce and it was delicious. The spring house was a natural endless production of watercress and mint. It was everywhere and we would pick it and put it in a large container along with moms cottage cheese and butter she made and take it to the Country Club to the chef. This helped pay some of our dues for the coming year at the Country Club. Later on, the mint and watercress became a gift to the chefs at the CC due to mom.
Reaping what ya sow was a fun time but lots of work. We would spend hours snapping beans, popping peas and butter beans, shucking corn (leaving some on the cob and cutting lots off) washing leaf lettuce, cutting beets, canning tomatoes and peppers. So we stayed busy all summer. Dad and his brothers would take a two beefs to market and we would split them among the families.
We kids played together and always had something going on. It was a great time to be a child--we would make clover chains, fly junebugs on the end of a piece of thread, jump in the leaves make forts and ride the horses that were bought for us to ride. On Sundays we all gathered at Nana and Dads for Sunday dinner. We were introduced to many delicious recipes that came from Nanas kitchen. First time I had Vicychoise and Oyster stew was at my Nana's. I learned that there were manners and what utensils to use. That a napkin always was the first thing you touched when you sat down and you didnt sit down till the head of the table sat first. Blessings were always said and DAD always was the one to say them. As we grew a little older DAD would let us take a turn and it was a priviledge when he chose you to say blessing. As the family grew so did the tables at Nana's. She had two 10 seat tables. The main dining and then the children were set up right beside the main dining table. We were never to far away. Yep manners and etiquette and trying new dishes that we might be exposed to at other homes that we might visit were always put in front of us and taught. Nana was the best teacher with all her southern charm and ways of entertaining. She was a wonderful woman. Dont ever under estimate the knowledge of a grandmother. She was a wonderful teacher and example to learn from as a young person.
One time she had all of us spend the nite. We were to learn how to eat spaghetti if visiting or at an event. It was hilarious. She showed us what happened when you took a strand of spaget and sucked it the sauce flying everywhere on us on her glasses and was a mess. Then she taught us to cut the spaget and to take our fork and slide it under the strands sideways. It worked!!! Of course we still loved to get her with the sucking and she took it all in stride. She laughed then got down to business.