Granny's Place

My granny was born of honest-to-goodness pioneer stock on the south side of the Pistol River just before the turn of the last century. As a child she carried water to the house from the stream, helped her father plow the field, hoe the vegetable garden, and care for the family's livestock. In the summer she attended school in the log school house that was located on the opposite side of the river from her home. She didn't go to school in the winter - the river was too high to cross safely.

Granny was sixteen when she married a neighbor boy Robert Walker who worked in a local saw mill. Granny went to work in the mill too and they saved their money and were able to buy a piece of land near where they were born.

They set up a small saw mill of their own and sold lumber as their principal livelihood. Granny's husband was the sawyer and she was the off bearer. Her job was to catch the board as it was cut from the log. It was tough work for anyone - man or woman and Granny did it for two years before she gave birth to her first child. With motherhood she no longer performed the demanding off bearer job. Instead, always attired in a dress - never in trousers, she ran the steam engine and did whatever odd jobs came up - including felling and hauling timber for the saw mill. Oh yes, she also raised two children, one of whom was my mother.

One day their sawmill and their family business was destroyed by fire and Granny's husband instantly became a carpenter. In 1930 he and their ten year old son and Granny built the house that is today known as Granny's Place. It isn't one of those fancy places like they have in some parts. It is an honest, unpretentious space meant for living and music and merriment.

A spacious living room that encourages lively conversations, a dining room table suitable to support ample meals that have the aroma of real ingredients, a porch that wraps around the first floor like a warm embrace, a cozy breakfast nook just off the kitchen convenient to the coffee pot on a chilly morning, plenty of places upstairs and down to sleep family or friends, front steps that are perfect to sit on in the afternoon sunshine while sipping lemon aide made from real lemons, and a garden that will happily welcome children of all ages and dogs of all kinds.

Granny's Place is the perfect spot to read a book or write one. A wonderful place to get in touch with yourself or a loved one. A magnificent location for a reunion with family or friends.