Okay, this special day calls for a GIVEAWAY in celebration of a GIVEAWAY (just to keep you on the tippy top of your bargain-hunting tippy toes). Today is the day we begin our eight-day FREE magazine subscription GIVEAWAY marathon. But I have another burning question that will net another lucky winner a new MaryJane’s Home chenille bedspread worth about $100.
Here’s today’s question for you (answer below in the comments section) that will enter your name to win a brand-new old-fashioned chenille MaryJane’s Home bedspread:
What’s your favorite memory of your grandmother? Here’s why I ask this question. In the 400 or so retail stores like Belk and Fred Meyer where we sell our chenille bedspreads, clerks tell us that women, upon seeing a bed dressed in one of our chenille bedspreads, bring a hand to their heart region, and say things like, “Oh, this sooooooooo reminds me of my grandmother!”
So, what’s your favorite memory of your grandmother?
My favorite memory is my grand mother ( nana) is cooking or baking
I just love chenille bedspreads and always have. I do not remember my Grandmothers as I was adopted at a young age. But, for some reason I am pulled to the chenille, maybe there is a memory in this old mind of mine somewhere.
Thank you for another fabulous give away. You are the best.
I love your magazine too and have learned so much since I picked up my first issue, I will never not have a subscription as Mary Janes Magazine is a part of me.
Hugs,
Debbie
#1582
Proud Mama Hen of The Scattered Prairie Gals Hen House.
Well, at the time I didn’t think that this would develop into a “fond memory”, but….My grandmother put me to work for her one summer when I was 12 years old. My job was to was every outside window (about 15 doubles total) with vinegar and water. Every Saturday, she would hand me a bucket of vinegar water, a bag of clean rags, and a step ladder and I would clean those windows until they sparkled, because that was the only way to pass inspection when I was done.
My nana would also scrub her kitchen floor (on hands and knees, of course!) and promptly cover the floor with newspaper so that the floor would not get dirty.(?) I could never quite figure that one out, but that was my Nana!!
The aromas of my grandmothers house from cooking to peonies to the musty basement. I instantly remember my grandmother by those scents after cooking a roast in my home or heading down to our basement in the muggy summers of Iowa.
My favorite memory is riding in the truck to the lake with the windows down singing “Blessed Assurance” at the top of our lungs. And she always said she couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket, but it sounded just fine to me?
I remember my grandmother sitting at her dressing table, combing her waist length hair, then rolling it up in a bun on the back of her head. She only had a touch of gray well into her 80’s.
My grandmother had Alzheimer’s disease, but even so, I have wonderful memories of spending time with her. Every Sunday, my dad would pick her up from an assisted living center and bring her home to spend the day with her family. She would sit in the recliner in our living room and laugh while my sister and I ran circles around her. My dad would feed her Breyer’s chocolate ice cream, and she would say that we were such pretty little girls.
My Grandmother lived in New York and we would go see her nearly every summer. So my memories of her involve free, lazy days playing with her button collection, browsing her old bookcases, and going for walks around her little town. She had nine children that she raised in a really old city house with four bedrooms and many beds. And the beds were covered in chenille bedspreads so similar to the one in this photograph.
My grandma had a bedroom in her upstairs that I always thought was cool. Everything in the room was red…bedspread, carpet, and my favorite thing was the vanity with a cute little stool to sit on and brush your hair. But I think my favorite memory of her was how cute she was. She was always curious to know if I was dating someone, and would tell me about her teenage years going to the movies and dances.
My favorite memory of my grandmother is her wonderful warm smile. Not only did she smile with her lips, but her whole face was a smile. You could just see the love beaming in her eyes. I was pretty much raised by my grandparents- they lived right next door to me growing up. Grandma used to make the BEST blueberry pies with blueberries the size of quarters from my grandpa’s garden. MMMMmmmmm!
I sure do miss her!
Some of the most memorable stories of my dear Grandmother Bailes happened before I was born, but I heard them many times and can see them in my mind. My Grandparents moved to Florida in the 20s from South Carolina. Grandmother loved flowers and was just amazed by the abundance of beautiful flowers that grew in the tropical temps of Central Florida. So she gathered a bunch of different flowers, dipped them in wax and packed a big box to send back home to her sister so she could enjoy them too. Their home had the remnants of an old grove in the back yard and she painted the big grapefruits red to amaze the tourists. When my grandfather had a new house built in the early 50s, she had the ceiling of her kitchen painted red which was not something people did at that time, but she was an original.
I too remember Nana’s chenille bedspread and how I marveled at all those little balls. But my most favorite memory of her is the way she whistled in the kitchen. She always seemed happy no matter if she was in there cooking, shelling beans, playing solitare on the kitchen table table or paying bills. Always whistling, and usually it was a hymn. Such wonderful memories.
My favorite memory of my Grandmother is sitting in her kitchen floor looking in a box at the newly hatched chicks. She kept them there until time to move them to the hen house.
In the days before kindergarten was required, my grandmother used the Bible to teach me to “sight read.” The gift of literacy is a lifelong blessing passed along to me by the women in my family.
My Grandmother always listened to me.
She’d ask me about my likes and plans and then listen to me with an open heart.
My favorite memory of my grandmother is of her holding me on her lap while she sat in the porch swing. I can remember the feel of the vibrations in her chest as she would sing to me. Such precious memories!
My grandmother knew I loved to rea. She shared that love and she got me started on the Nancy Drew books. To this day I enjoy a good mystery!
My G’ma and I would play a game called “stare eyes” with each other. We would sit at her mid-century kitchen table with those gem colored aluminum drinking glasses full of lemonade and a plate full of graham crackers with butter and stare into each others eyes from only a few inches away from each other. The first one to giggle lost the game, but we always made a connection and that fond memory is still with me. I can transport myself to her small, sunny Chicago kitchen any time I want and hear her quiet giggle that would always follow mine. I am still the first to cave when playing “stare eyes” with my own children…… even to this day. A simple game. A simple pleasure. A lifelong happy memory!
My fondest positive memory of my Grandma: She never let anyone leave her house empty-handed. She would give us a can of peaches or a dollar and she always had gum. Before coffee got too expensive for her, she would gift a pound can to a grieving family. She went to visitation for every person that died in her community, and I mean everyone.
So many memories of my Paternal Grandma. We lived far away from her from the time I was 9. She would come to visit every summer. She taught me how to make pie crust, just keep practicing she said and you will learn. I can now make super pie crusts. She also taught me how to make pin curls in my hair with bobby pins. I have a crocheted table cloth she made. It was the first one she every made and the last one she worked on when she added a strip to fit my super long dining room table.
I never had a grandmother but I remember my friends talking about theirs. I am a grandmother of 6 and I am trying to be the type of person I would want a grandmother to have been to me.
Her loving arms around me.
I have so many favorite memories it’s almost hard to pick just one. I guess it would be the two of us alone in the kitchen baking. She had all of these wonderful old German recipes that she tried to teach me. Some of them I still remember. Most of the recipes have been long lost as my mother did not make them or keep all of them. The ones I remember I have not made in a long long time. Thinking about them makes me want to try and see if I can still do them. Thank you for making us think about things that we may not have thought about in a while. It’s very heartwarming to think about all the things we used to do together and know that even she has been gone many years I know I still miss her, but I also still love her just as much today as I did then. We don’t often think about the impact that people have on our lives and she had a very large one on mine.
I have 2 favorite memories of my grandma. The first one is standing on the “little red chair” and her teaching me how to make chocolate chip cookies-“you have to use real butter” she would say. And getting to use her egg beater was heaven to me. Put the eggs in, and whip them up to a frothy goodness. She always made the best scrambled eggs.
She was also an accomplished concert pianist. She would sit at the piano and I would put my ear against the side of the piano and just FEEL the music coming from her fingers. Oh, how I wanted to learn from her. I could sit that way for hours while she played. My favorite song for her to play was “Rustles of Spring”. Her fingers danced over the keys like the wind through the leaves. My imagination would soar listening to her. She could be gruff, but I knew she loved me. I miss her so.
My grandmother always had red cherry Lifesavers in her purse, and her fingernail polish was the same color. She would share the Lifesavers with me because whatever it was I was doing “looked like thirsty work”.
My maternal Grandmother passed away before I was born, but through my mother’s stories I grew to know and love her just as if she had been a part of my life…which in a way she was! One of my favourite “memories” of her is a story my mother told about “Grammy and Pa” (family names for my maternal grandparents) that took place during the war.
The story goes that they staying at a rather nice hotel in SanFrancisco and after checking in my Grandmother, being exhausted after a long day of travelling decided to lay down for a rest before going down for dinner. She stripped down to her slip and proceeded to stretch out on the bed where she promptly fell asleep. My Grandpa decided to join her in a little before dinner nap, so he too stripped down to his undergarments and quickly dozed off. As most of you know, air raids were very common in those days, so when my Grandpa was shaken awake by my wide-eyed, frightened Grandmother and told in a hushed whisper to “be very quiet and follow me” he obediently followed her as she took his hand and together, they crouched down and made their way hastily out of the room, down the corridor and into the front lobby. Upon entering the crowded lobby they were approached by the concierge who asked if he might be of assistance, it was at this moment that my Grandmother “awoke” and let out a scream!
Some of my greatest memories are of spending time with my mother (usually in the kitchen washing dishes or cooking,) where she would tell me stories of her childhood as we worked.
My favorite memory of my grandmother happened just a week ago. We were visiting her for Mother’s Day. The memory is of my 17 year old son who is 6’6″ bending over to give his 94 year old great-grandmother a hug and doing it willingly knowing how much it means to her.
My favorite memory of my Grandma Libbie (who I look like) is her chenille bedspreads on the beds with lots of her quilts. If there were many people staying there, we kids got to sleep on piles of those lovely quilts! Her home was so cozy! When I was a kid my mom had chenille bedspreads that were so soft and gorgeous. Mary Beth
My favorite memory of my grandmother was her wonderful cooking. No recipe books or measuring cups needed. Gramma just KNEW what was called for in her cooking. She made the best goulash and homemade chocolate pie. The secret, I learned as an adult, to the goulash was her home canned tomato juice. I’m sure the secret of the pie was love, as she made it completely from scratch. I can remember watching as she spooned cocoa, sugar, whole milk and cornstarch into the sauce pan on the kitchen stove to thicken. The pie crust would have been rolled out ahead of time and waiting for the thickened filling. Pure deliciousness! Her fried chicken was yummy as was her fried cabbage. Both were fried in a well seasoned cast iron skillet. I am the proud owner of that skillet these days. Now that I’m a gramma I hope one day my grandchildren will look back and have fond memories of going to this gramma’s house. I have the hugs, kisses and cuddles down pat. I’m still perfecting the recipe that they’ll yearn for years after I’m gone.
I remember many things about my grandma – she taught me to sew when I was about 5. I can’t imagine the patience she must have had to deal with a five-year-old me! But I’ve loved sewing ever since! She also taught me how to bake a pie. I remember she actually let me make my own little tart size cherry pie. When I think of grandmother, I think of her and filled with so many great memories!
When I saw the bedspread, I knew I had to post about my great-grandma. When I was very little, she was still working cleaning homes for people in North Boise. She would come home on the weekends to her little one-bedroom house and ask if I would like to come spend the night with her. That little doll-house was every little girls dream.
I used to think no person ever owned as many knick-knacks as she did and why didn’t I remember that I had to dust them all the LAST time I came? And did they really need dusted EVERY time I came over?
There was a little pink toilet in the bathroom and everything was very girly. There was a pink stove and pink refrigerator in the kitchen, where she would make me tea and toast before bed.
Ahh bed. We would climb in together and I would trace those little bumps on the bedspread while she told me bedtime stories. Granny didn’t just tell those stories, she sang them. I still hear her voice singing Hey Diddle Diddle “…the little dog laughed to see such sport and the dish ran away with the spoon, the spoon, and the dish ran away with the spoon.”
She’s been gone a long time now, but I will never forget how much I loved going to Granny’s house.
My grandmama lived in the city and we lived on a 10 acre farm in the next state. It was only a river (Columbia) away but seemed so far. We would go on weekends once a month to visit and grandmama would be baking when we got there.. always something from her garden. We loved those visits, but she passed when we were still young so we missed a lot not having her.
My grandma making lep cookies in the fall, chocolate chip and oatmeal raisin too. Storing them in the attic in big glass jars until Christmas,when they were wonderful. No one can recreate the lep cookies she made. Her cinnamon rolls were made with potato water and were the best texture ever!
Sadly my grandmother and grandfather recently passed away leaving my parents with several hundred more acres and their farm. My husband, son, and I get to live on my grandparents farm since my parents already have their own only a few miles away through the pastures. So, I get wonderful daily memories of my grandmother. She was so wise and always had a fun saying. I can always remember her telling me when we were working together that we were “busy as a cranberry merchant”. I think of those fun sayings often.
Since moving here we have started our own flock of chickens and ducks. They are so much fun. We are lucky that my grandparents actually had a very nice hen house already here. I can always remember helping my grandmother gather eggs when I was little. Our flock of free range chickens and ducks have turned in to 45 chickens, a rooster, and 11 ducks. I have had so many pets and always been a lover and owner of horses. I do have to say though that I have never experienced as much joy as I do as caring for these chickens. They are so much fun!
These bedspread would come in so handy now since I am still working on decorating since our move. Thank you so much for the opportunity! My mom and I really enjoy your magazine we receive and it gives us so much inspiration!
My favorite memories of my Daddy’s southern mother were how she could sew. She made the most wonderful hand stitched Barbie clothes for our dolls, and she made a complete wardrobe of Barbie clothes for my daughter, her great granddaughter. My daughter appreciated those handmade treasures and now her daughter owns them. She was a wonderful role model of tradition, good food, great love and sacrifice for family,her faith and love of church.She is greatly missed.When I traveled to her home in Arkansas as a child, I remember the white chenille bedspread with yellow roses all over it that graced the guest room we stayed in.When I see those bedspreads they always remind me of my grandma and my love for her.
spending time at her house on the lake.
My grandmother liked to let us “swim” in galvanized buckets then off to nap under the chenille spreads. Just so warm and cuddles