Nostalgia re: summer vacations!

I am in a nostalgic mood at this time of year, the end of June and the beginning of summer!

Each year my Mom would save the income tax refund and we would head down to visit her brother,

Ed Brutke, who lived on a wonderful farm in the Eola Hills near Amity, Oregon.

I loved the weeks we spent there. Sometimes it was 3 weeks, sometimes only 1 week.

When I was a teenager we picked cherries in Uncle Ed's fields, or strawberries on a great uncle's farm. I saved my money and bought special things with it; fabric, books, school annuals, etc.

Here we are in the summer of 1975, me at the top, Leona, Marlene, Marie.

A cool creek ran through the property. I don't know if it has a name or not.

My Mom brought one of the larger rocks back one year, and it's now in my garden.

We had a grand and glorious time each afternoon, roaming the fields and hills on the farm, and playing in the creek, or reading in the cool farmhouse.

1975 was the last year we could go inside the "old house".

This was the house my grandparents, Adolph and Helen Brutke built in the 1920's, before building the farmhouse in 1932 where my Mom was born. My uncle used this old house for storing his tools and machinery, and where we are standing at the back, he used to store hay. That room was my grandparent's bedroom. Where the lightbulb is hanging used to be the kitchen.

After cherry picking was finished we would take a trip to the Oregon Coast near Lincoln City.

I adored the coast, even if it was very windy and usually cold. I loved hearing the crashing of the waves on the shore, and staying at the D Sands Motel.

The summer of 1975 we took my Mom's friend, Elsie Diewert, to the beach with us. She played a rousing game of dominoes with us. Here we are in our flannel nightgowns! Marie is asleep on the cot.

Family picnics were always a fun time too. All the aunts and uncles showed up, and usually gave us late birthday cards and gifts or money. It was a great time. It rarely rained. Our vacation was filled with hot temperatures and lots of sunshine. In this picture in 1975 I'm wearing a blouse and jumper that my aunt Emma made for her daughter Melodie, and it was passed on to me. I loved hand-me-downs as they were called back then. I have so many good memories of these happy vacation times.