Grandma Ridd

All month I have been thinking a lot about my wonderful Grandma Ridd. Her Birthday is July 3rd and every year I can't make it through the month without missing her like mad. She was a WONDERFUL Grandma. She went out of her way to spend time with us. I know that she was busy working with Grandpa and all of the "Adult Stuff" that I didn't think about as a kid, but she always made us feel special. Sometimes all of us would sleep over, and sometimes she would have us come one at a time so that we had one on one time. Even when she was SO busy that I'm sure the last thing she needed was to have little kids around! I remember her always being there for my mom. Even when they were living in California. The calls, the visits when they knew mom needed them, and even taking my little brothers back to California with them while they packed up to move back home! Anyway, here are a few of the memories that have been running through my mind:

Grandma and Grandpa had a killer yard. There was a stream with a bridge in the middle of the yard and a creek in the back. There were ducks that were always coming into the yard and Grandma always had bread that we could feed them. We would go out together and spend forever watching and feeding the ducks. Grandma also had a lot of raspberry bushes in her yard. She would hand us an empty ice cream bucket and send us out to pick. Once we were done she would put them in a bowl with milk and sugar. YUM!!! Pretty much EVERYTHING Grandma made was yummy. She also always put bread on the table at dinner. AND she taught me how to butter bread. You always spread the butter to all 4 edges. None of this middle of the bread stuff for her!

Grandma was also an amazing seamstress. I just remember laying on the floor under the kitchen table and listening to her cut fabric. The sound of the scissors cutting through the fabric and rubbing on the counter top will forever be with me. The TV on the counter was always on while she was working. This is when I was first introduced to "Soaps". The Young and The Restless and General Hospital were the two I remember the most. Nikki Newman was after all a total drunk! hehe. Anyway back to sewing! I remember one year she made all of our school clothes. LOVED them! She also made us "fur" coats one year for Christmas.

UNO. Grandma was a game player and my favorite one to play with her was UNO.

I loved to hear Grandma Sing. Everything sounded great coming from her but "little sir echo" and "little pig Joe" were my favorites. I also LOVED when she got "sugar" from my neck and rubbed my back.

The Thanksgiving before she died I was lucky. I got to sleep over and help her prepare the food. It's the first time I remember really MAKING stuffing! No Stove Top for us! It was just so much fum to learn at her side.

ANYWAY I just hope that I can be like my Grandma!