It was when I was writing about harvesting going on into the evening until there was no more light that I remembered that Grandad never allowed harvesting on a Sunday. No matter how things were going, Sunday was a day of rest, at least from arable work. The animals still had to be fed, milked and cared for, of course.
On Sunday the focus was on the home. Sunday dinner (lunch) was the culinary highlight of the week. It was usually roast beef and Yorkshire pudding with vegetables from the garden. Grandma made the best gravy I have ever tasted. Even the horseradish sauce was homemade for horseradish was a rather vigorous weed.
It would be followed by a fruit pie, apple, rhubarb or plum. These were the fruits grown in the garden so those were the fruits we ate. It was served with cream from the farm cows.
For my grandparents tinned food was a rarity and grandma would open a small tin of salmon and make sandwiches for Sunday tea. There would be home made plum bread (a Lincolnshire fruit loaf), cakes, pastries and a purchased Swiss roll, again a special pleasure for grandad.
After tea we would go to the little chapel in the village. My grandparents were Methodists. It was a bit of an ordeal for me as any children present were expected to sing a hymn to be listened to by the adults and I never knew the hymns chosen for us.
I was happy to go to chapel though, as I knew that after chapel we would go to Cleethorpes for a walk along the front and a local ice cream.
In my childhood in Norfolk, I knew many farmers who honoured the Lord's Day like your grandfather. Tend to the beasts definitely, but the tractor stayed in the barn!
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely. But I can be fairly sure that I will meet agricultural machinery being moved from field to field while I am out today.
ReplyDeleteHarvesting even goes on through the night now and it always seems that there are more tractors out on the roads here on Sundays than during the week
ReplyDeleteYes. The pea harvest especially seems to be at night.
DeleteMore lovely memories of your summers spent with your grandparents. I only knew my maternal grandmother and what I remember most about her is her crocheting and sewing.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm sure they will still be lovely memories.
DeleteThanks for sharing a picture into times past.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteI had the same Sunday as you but not the ice cream!
ReplyDeleteMy grandad loved ice cream almost as much as I did.
DeleteI still try to do the same for our Sundays. There are a few times I slip up though.
ReplyDeleteWhile being baptized United, I attended a Presbyterian church growing up as that church was at the end of our street. I went to Sunday School from grade K to grade 12 (we moved that year) and loved every minute of it. Funny thing is I still have all the books we used in our classes.
Now a convert to the Catholic church and am so glad that we are signing covenants with the Anglican church, and one of the Lutheran sects. There is so much that binds us together.
God bless.
Interesting to hear of your spiritual journeys.
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