Aunt Maude

This rather stern looking lady was my great aunt, my grandmother's sister,
Maude Pringle Harken.
1880-1961
She was very kind, not stern at all; a wonderful cook and lived in Iowa.
What I liked best was that she and her husband, P.J., had an old pump organ
in the living room and I was allowed to play it!
They also  had electricity on their farm thanks to what we
called a wind charger.
My grandparents lived a few miles away and
had only coal oil lamps and a wood burning stove which
I thought was really neat. They both had crank telephones where you
rang for the operator with a small  handle. You always
listened for your ring, two  longs and a short, for example.
And then the temptation was to listen in on the neighbor's call
but that was a big no-no.