Hibiscus House: Great Grandma Made Her Own! A Few Southern Traditions Today!

Great Grandmama 'Maggie'

I've been on this kick of wanting to make my own skincare products lately. Yes, why not? Have you searched online recently to see how many there are out there? I was plum surprised to see how long people have been doing this.

I know, I know, I said that, but in thinking back, my great-grandmother did this! She used to talk about doing so with everything from beauty products to herbal medicines. They had to, because there wasn't anything around to buy much, so they made their own everything.

They were pretty self-sufficient back then, much more so than we can ever be now. Amazing, isn't it? How quickly things change.

I can't count the times she told me to grow some peppermint when I was pregnant with my oldest, to help with the nausea. "Yeah, if you'd do that and make yourself a cup of hot mint tea, you'd feel better," She'd say. "Or, you could just chew the mint leaves."

I'd look at her, ready to puke and think, you must be crazy, woman. Well, who's the crazy one now?

Seated Grandma and Great Grandma

Standing Granddaddy and their daughter (my aunt)

Oh, how I loved those women. You didn't see Great Grandma without her purse in her lap. She had a grip on that thing as if she had a million dollars in it! There she is pictured above, and you can bet her purse was beside her on that seat.

It didn't take me but forty-something years to try anything like this. Oh, how I wish I'd talked to her a little more about this stuff. She died in her nineties.

I can still see her face, mouth wide open (as well as her legs in her house dress and apron with stockings showing). We'd have to adjust her, and she would be so embarrassed about it. She was amazed at how we young people and how we thought. I now understand her feelings myself.

She seemed to be in a constant state of shock when we would tell her things. She could not imagine the things we could do, especially we girls.

This lady never had an indoor bathroom, nor did she want one. She was the best cake cooker around, I can tell you that. My Daddy loved her pineapple cake.

Old Fashioned Pineapple Cake

She and her husband lived in a small nearby town. Great Grandpa worked for the saw mill, but when I knew them, he had retired.

They would get excited as they went about their Saturday chores. He would walk down to the corner store and fill the fridge up with Pepsi Colas, and Great Grandma would bake a cake and prepare for the Sunday meals on Saturday.

The house had to be cleaned, and the yard had to be swept or raked. They knew they would have guests on Sunday, so they cooked and cleaned.

Sunday was a day of rest. It was the Lord's Day, and there would be no hard work; as a matter of fact, no work at all was allowed on Sunday.

Grandma

My grandma was her daughter, and at her home, you didn't even pick up the sewing scissors to cut anything. They were off limits on Sunday. I never really figured that one out, maybe she associated them with sewing/working...then again, they were her sewing scissors and we kids wanted to cut paper! Ding, ding, ding, that's it, the paper cutting would ruin her sharp sewing scissors!

It is now 5 pm, and I have worked some; my front porch has been washed, as well as the outdoor table and chairs. The animals have been fed, but, to tell you the truth I have butter and eggs on the counter at room temperature. It is to be used for pound cakes that I have yet to bake.

The house needs sweeping and vacuuming. Chuck has been in the kitchen looking for something to eat and looking at me like, "What are you doing? Nothing is on the stove."

Nope, haven't done much today, and my ancestors would be so ashamed of me. Yes, they would. What am I doing now? Writing this post, of course.

Have you done your Saturday chores, may I ask? Let me know if you need some incentive to get up and move.

If you like, you can read a little more of our Southern Traditions.

Have a great weekend, y'all!

You want to see that cake in color, don't you?

I know you do, so here it is.

Old Fashioned Pineapple Cake

My recipe here

I can tell you it is very delicious!

So next week I'll be sharing my new anti-wrinkle cream. I can't claim it as my own mixture, just tweaked it a little. I think it is more like a salve than a cream, but people call them creams.

Update made them link below: