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Category: gardening among the rocks | Posted: Fri Oct 06, 2006 4:52 am

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I have an old metal tub hanging in my garage. It's handles are rusty, but it's in pretty good shape. It's very useful for scooting along behind me to hold weeds that I want to feed to the rabbits, tools I might need, the occasional water bottle. I washed my dog in it when she was still small enough that I held high hope that she would actually be a good dog someday.
The tub used to rest in my mom's house. She weeded with it too. She would give it a good scrubbing and put dough in it to rise sometimes. The best cinnamon rolls in the world had their start in that tub. My mom got the tub from my grandmother.
Gramma used it to weed. She would scrub it out and make her batter-bread- her arthritic hands wouldn't allow her to knead, so she would make a batch of rather runny dough and beat it with her mixer. Then it would rise, she'd squash it down, and beat in as much flour as she could. The best bread in the world had it's start in that tub. Every Christmas at Grandma's house, the tub would hold water for the Christmas tree. Concrete blocks held the trunk in place, and strings ran from the top to nails high in the walls that great-grandpa built, to keep the tree from tipping.
The world hasn't been making much sense lately. The more people talk about love & tolerance, the more hate and spite seem to grow. I turned off the news today, walked into my garage, and saw the old metal tub. And it made sense.


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jubabe296 wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 4:19 am:

Critter thanks for sharing the story about your family's tub!! The story about the Christmas tree made me look back fondly at our old tradition of Christmas trees for my Nanny Charlton's house. She had 16 foot tall ceilings and the men in the family would go out and find a tree that would reach to the top!! My Nanny is no longer with us and my Grandad just sold the old house. That old house holds so many memories just like your tub!!! It's nice to remember isn't it?!!!

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glendann wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 5:18 am:

Yes all of the old things brings back memories.I have an old sturp vat I must make into a pond are planter .I
need to do that soon.I have an old wood cook stove that needs sanding and painting I want to do something with.Anyone have any ideas ?

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CritterPainter wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 5:26 am:

Seems like an old wood cook stove would make a nifty potting bench, fix tubs under the burners on top to hold perlite or vermiculite or whatever, stash small soil sacks in the oven part... guess it depends on the style of the stove.
Thanks for your comments, jubabe (now why do I always see your name in my head as jujube??)

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eileen wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 9:19 am:

We've still got the old zinc bath that my sisters and I used to be bathed in as kids. We used to sit in it in front of a roaring coal fire and play together in it. Then it was passed to me and our kids used it as a paddling pool. Later, when they were older, we used it to wash the dog. Nowadays it's in our garden and has been used as a planter for many years. The old things are always the best and they certainly hold many memories.

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reggaefan wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 9:44 am:

Thanks for sharing I have many memeories that help me when it all gets too crazy thats why I write those half-baked poems. Sharon just pointed out to me the other day that Jubabe name was not jujube. Great minds think alike I guess. LOL

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Gardenstew wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:10 am:

Great story Critter, it's funny how old items seem to hang around and 'develop' new functionality. Maybe we just don't want to let them go or maybe it's just because the quality was so good that they survived. I'm sure my mother has a lot of old items like this but it's hard to remember at the moment.

It's also funny how we get sentimental about stationary objects but we do.

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pondlady wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 11:54 am:

Thanks for sharing how we can connect to our past through a simple inanimate object.

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jubabe296 wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 3:26 pm:

Jujube!!LOL!!!! Maybe you all think I'm sweet as a piece of candy!!!!LOL!!!
just kidding!!!

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CritterPainter wrote on Fri Oct 06, 2006 4:55 pm:

Thanks for the great comments! Mom used to bathe my baby in it too, and I'm sure I just don't remember Gramma bathing me in it!

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muddybob wrote on Sat Oct 07, 2006 12:39 am:

Great comments for a great blog entry. This one is particularly good.
Oh, and I am among those who thought Jubabe was Jujube. I just realized the other day that I'd had it wrong.

muddy

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cajunbelle wrote on Thu Oct 19, 2006 11:20 am:

Thanks Critter, what a great piece. We all need something to stabilize our minds in this always crazy world.

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