Thursday, August 11, 2011

A Day With Grandma Tanya

Last weekend my mom and dad had to go to a wedding, so I stayed at my grandparents house.  I did a lot of things with my grandmother like cooking fish.  My Gandma bought fish that still had the head attached.  First, my grandmother and I took off the scales with a knife and cut off the head.  Before my Gandma cut off the head of the fish, I got to touch its teeth.  After the head was cut off, my grandmother washed the fish and cut it into four pieces. Then she salted the fish.  Next, I put the fish into flour so the skin would get crispy when fried.  Then, I put the fish onto the frying pan and let it cook.  When the fish was ready, I put the ingredients away and let the fish cool. 


Later, my grandmother and I went for a walk with their dog Elsie. Elsie is a big German Shepherd.   While we were on the walk, it started to rain.  Can you believe it? It rained in the summer!  My Gandma Tanya and I ran to a tree and we stayed there until the rain stopped.  The tree was large, green, and bushy and protected us so we didn't get wet.  During our walk, we took some photographs of beautiful roses and flowers that we saw on the way. Here are some images of what we saw.






  











On our way home, we decided to go to my Gandma's neighbors house to see their cats.  After visiting the neighbor, it was time to go home to Grandma's house.  It was then that my grandmother realized she didn't have the keys to open the gate to get back.  So I had to climb over the gate, swing on a tree branch to get into their backyard.  Then I got the keys from the garage and opened the gate for my Grandma.  It was a big adventure. 

Have you ever spent the day with your grandmother? What did you do?





    

15 comments:

  1. Dear Miriam,

    I really loved this post for every chance BB and I get we love to spend our time with nonna Elisa.

    Most of the time I love helping Nonna Elisa with her daily work so that the rest of the day is a made a little bit easier for her.

    We often go for a walk around the farm and just talk.

    I love these days been together with nonna Elisa and I know she does too. We are so very lucky to have them. :)

    From your blogging pal,
    AA.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Miriam,

    This is a wonderful post about the fun you had with your grandmother. You are lucky to have such a loving family to look after you.

    When I was a boy a long time ago, I use to visit my grandmother who lived on a dairy farm. I use to watch her separate cream from milk, make butter and bake bread.

    It wasn't until I was an adult she finally had an electric stove so all of her cooking would be in a wood fired oven. It use to feel so wonderful on a cold morning to go into the kitchen and feel the warmth of the fire.

    I hope you keep blogging. Your posts are very well written and the photos are beautiful.

    Ross Mannell (teacher)
    Australia

    ReplyDelete
  3. ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★

    Dear Miriam,

    What a wonderful post! You wrote with such fabulous detail, I felt like I was right there with the two of you! In my mind, I see you as a super hero jumping the gate and swinging from a tree branch to save the day! Go Miriam!

    What kind of fish was that?

    I have many happy memories of my Grandma Smillie. For one thing, she loved to sing and had a beautiful coloratura opera voice that I enjoyed. One of her favorite fun songs to sing was Let Me Call You Sweetheart. Remember that from Valentine's Day? She always added a big, dramatic finish to it!

    I also used to bake with her. She taught me how to make delicious banana bread. She said that the best bananas for bread were the ones that were old and soft...and she was right!

    Finally, my grandma used to read to me, even as I became an adult. Grandma Smillie always read with expression and put special voices to each character. That made me get lost in the book, if you know what I mean.

    Thanks for doing this post, Miriam. It was fun to read about your adventure and wonderful for me to spend some time thinking about my own grandma. :-)

    Your former teacher,
    Mrs. Y♥llis


    ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★

    ReplyDelete
  4. Dear Miriam,
    I always enjoy to spent time with you. You always try help in the kitchen and learn new things as cooking, knitting or other useful things. When you will grow up you will know how to cook, knit, clean etc. It will help you when you will live on your own.
    I did not have grandparents, they died before I was born and I always felt that I was missing the warmth and attention that only grandparents can give.
    You are lucky to have two sets of grandparents.
    We have many more projects to do and time to spend.
    Love you,
    Grandma Tanya

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dear Miriam,

    What fun! I love getting caught in the rain on a summer day. The flowers seem to blossom brighter!

    When I was young, all the grandkids would visit my grandfather's beach house at the same time. There were over ten of us! We would walk to the beach, lounge on the porch and just hang out.

    My grandfather would send us on errands for him. He would give us extra money on purpose, so we could keep the change.

    I still treasure all my memories of summers in Spring Lake, New Jersey.

    A 49'er,
    Mrs. Kistler

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear Miriam
    Thank you for sharing and telling us about your grandma. I think grandparents have special places in our lives.

    I called my grandma 'Nan'. She was very strict, but also very kind and caring. She had eight children and those children all had lots of children, so I grew up with lots of cousins around.

    Nan would spend hours playing lots of board games and card games with us, and everyone learned to count and add well because of those games.

    Nan always did lots of knitting for her grandchildren, and she would make 'crazy' quilts (patchworks using old pieces of scrap fabric in no particular pattern.)

    Miriam, thank you for sparking a chance to look back on some great memories!
    Your grandma will be pleased to know how much you enjoy your time together.

    Mrs M♔Kenzie

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi Miriam,

    I really enjoyed reading about your day with your grandmom. It made me think back to my grandmom whom we called "Little Mom-Mom" because she was very short. I was as tall as her when I was your age!

    My Little Mom-Mom moved to the United States from Italy when she was only 13 years old. She would tell us stories about going to school here and not knowing how to speak English. I would love to hear her speak in Italian to her friends when they would call on the phone.

    My favorite memories of her were her wonderful Italian foods. I loved making homemade pasta with her and teasing with my grandfather about whether we should make thin pasta or fat pasta that day.

    Thanks for sharing about your day and making me remember my Little Mom Mom. You are a very good blogger! I will have to share your blog with my 3rd grade students in September.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Aloha Miriam,
    Your post brought back so many wonderful memories for me. My grandma always lived with us and I was her girl. We spent so much time together.

    My grandma taught me to garden. We would spend time planting vegetables, pulling weeds, and watering. Each summer after we picked our tomatoes we would can them for the winter.

    Another special thing we would do is bake. My grandma would make strudel and stretch the dough so thin you could see through it. She also made noodles and doughnuts. While she worked with her dough she would have me stand on a stool so I can work with mine.

    When I had my tenth birthday my grandma invited all my friends and gave me a party. It was one of my most treasured memories.

    Miriam, I am so happy for you and Grandma Tanya. Your love for each other was in each and every sentence.

    A Hoi Hou,
    Mrs. Jacobs

    ReplyDelete
  9. Dear Miriam,

    I enjoyed reading your post about your special time you spent with you Grandma.

    I, love spending time with my Nonna. So just about every chance I get I will visit her.
    What I love the most about spending time with my nonna is we love cooking together and playing games.
    I love my nonna's a great deal.

    From your pal,
    Bianca.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dear Miriam,

    Thanks for sharing your wonderful day with your grandma with all of us. I really enjoyed the details you added to the post. Like Mrs. Yollis said, I could imagine being right there with you and your grandma.

    I guess it doesn't rain very much in the summertime there! We get lots of thunderstorms during the summers here in New England. A couple of years ago I spent a summer north of you in Carmel Valley, CA and it didn't rain all summer. Actually, I didn't see a cloud the whole time I was there!

    One of my earliest memories with my Nana was when I was about 5 years old. We lived in St. Louis then and our house was a few blocks from my grandparents. One day I "ran away from home". (I don't remember why. I'm sure it was some small thing that I thought was a terrible injustice.) Anyway, I went to my grandma's house and told her I was running away and asked for some food. She gave me a popsicle and secretly called my parents to tell them I was there and I was fine. Well, we ended up spending the day together, working in her garden, reading stories and baking cookies. It was a great day! (Although when I went home at the end of the day I still got in a little bit of trouble...)

    We moved to New England the next year and I only got to see my Nana once or twice a year after that. You are very lucky that you live so close to your grandma! Grandparents are so special.

    From,
    Mr. Salsich

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dear Mr. Salsich,

    Thank you for sharing your interesting story about you and your grandma. It is nice that you able turn to grandma when you needed her.

    We hardly ever get rain in the summer. The weather here is hot and dry.

    I hope you are having a great summer.

    Your blogging buddy,
    Miriam

    ReplyDelete
  12. Dear Mrs. Jacobs,

    Thank you for sharing the activites that you did with your Grandma. I also used to live with my Grandma but at the end of first grade I moved to another house not to far away. She lives close enough that I can still walk to her house and we spend a lot of time together.

    My Grandma also likes to garden. When I come over, I help her water her plants.

    From,
    ♥Miriam♥

    ReplyDelete
  13. ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥

    Dear Mrs. Yollis,

    Thank you for your comment and sharing your memories of your grandmother. The fish that my grandmother and I cooked was trout.

    This summer my siblings, mom, and I made banana bread too. We had a lot of soft and smushy bananas that my mom put in the freezer so we can use when we were ready to bake. We make the recipe even better by adding chocolate chips.


    Your former student,
    Miriam

    ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥

    ReplyDelete
  14. Dear Mr. Mannel,

    Thank you for leaving me a comment and sharing what you did with your Grandma. I wonder if my Grandma used to cook on a wood fired oven in Russia.

    I live in a suburb of a big city and it would be nice to be able to visit a dairy farm.

    I hope you visit again.

    From,
    Miriam

    ReplyDelete
  15. Dear Miriam,
    I know it's kind of weird that a girl (not a teacher) is writing to you. Well, your blogs are fun to read. Keep writing, youre a great blogger!
    From,
    Anonymous

    ReplyDelete

♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥

Steps to Comment:

1. Write your comment in the box below. Please proofread your comment for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.

2. Choose an identity. (If you have a gmail account, use it. If not, simply choose "Anonymous".)

3. Click "Publish your Comment". You may preview your comment before publishing if you'd like.

♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥ ★ ♥