The Bell House

My mom wrote: "The old Bell House sits on a corner lot, just out of the pic to the left. This is Nevada St. We skated and road bikes for hundreds of hours around this culdesac. Almost where I'm standing to take the shot is where I fell off my bike when I was seven and drove my chin into the asphalt exposing my chin bone. It required seven stitches to unexpose. (I bare the scar to this day.) Paul and I used to fly kites on this street. I don't remember if my other three siblings did or not. We'd weave the string through those Chinese Elm leaves ever so skillfully and watch as those paper diamonds with tails grew smaller and smaller. We got pretty good at it. Once in awhile a kite would get caught in a branch and we'd lose it but more times than not we were able to bring it down to have it sail again. (I once fell out of the second Chinese Elmon the left. I was hoisting myself up with a rope. It gave way. [I wasn't very good at knots.] I landed on my back with a resounding"whomp!" I had almost made it to that first limb. [It was lower then]. Knocked the wind right out of me. The "whomp" was so loud the neighbor lady came running out of the house to see if I was ok...I lived to tell you about it.)"

My mom wrote: "Dad is sitting in the dining room. We enjoyed many a turkey dinner averaging about 25 family members in that room. We had tables that ran from the china hutch in the dining room to the couch area in the living room. The china hutch with those beautiful leaded glass doors has been removed. Wooden shelves with a teapot collection now take up the space."

My mom wrote: "A wider angle view of the dining room while standing in the living room. You can see the shelving that replaced the china cupboard. The floor heater that Karin waffled a pattern onto the bottom of her little feet is still there. The bookcases were removed. Dare I tell you about the time I was in the backyard and my mother was in the dining room looking out the window at us kids playing. I was about 5. Scott Adams was over playing with me and Paul. He dared me to pull down my shorts. After much teasing and daring, I did. (Gasp!) My mother (unbeknownst to me) had been watching. She came flying out the back porch door and put a good blistering on the part that I'd exposed! (Don't gasp too loudly, I kept my undies on. Just the shorts came down.) Her two favorite behavior modification implements were coat hangers, wire mind you, and wooden yard sticks. Oh. I almost forgot. There was a third. The flyswatter! I don't recall her tool of choice on that particular occasion. It could've been her loving hand. She came out that back door awfully fast. After the dreaded instrument was applied Scott Adams was sent home and me and my warm buns were sent upstairs."

• In the third picture on the very right is where my gramma's chair used to be. I would kneel down beside it and watch her work on her crosstiches. I was fasinated by the thread making pictures on the fabric. She would be watching Murder She Wrote with Angela Lansberry while she worked. I am sure this is where my love of sewing was born. I do remember that the house was a lot cleaner than in this picture! :)