|
|
| Mrs. Gumdrop and the Vanilla Ice Cream. True Story by Sally Lesh, 2005. |
|
Gustavus, Alaska homesteader Jessie Buoy is "Mrs. Gumdrop" in this childrens story written by Sally Lesh in 2005. Jessie & Sally shared friendship, memorable escapades, and an indomitable pioneering spirit. A fitting tribute to Jessie Buoy depicting Gustavus life just as it was.
|
"This is a story about Jessie. I call her Mrs. Gumdrop because she was round, she was sweet, and she was pink. It is a true story for Jessie herself told it to me. She was one great lady who showed all of us who were privileged to know her, that life is a joyful adventure." Sally Lesh, May 22, 2007
Mrs. Gumdrop and the Vanilla Ice Cream
"Hooray! The sun is shining!" Mrs. Gumdrop with her milk pail in hand opened her kitchen door and stepped out into the warm summer day.
Today was a very special day. There was to be a big beach party. Everyone was invited, everyone was to bring something good to eat, and EVERYONE hoped that Mrs. Gumdrop would bring her famous vanilla ice cream because everyone knew that Mrs. Gumdrop made the best vanilla ice cream in the whole world.
Mrs. Gumdrop opened the door of the cow shed, said, "Good morning Pearl" to her cow, sat down on her milking stool and milked Pearl. It was warm and quiet in the cow shed. Only the swish-swish of the milk as it filled the pail and the soft munch-munch as Pearl chewed her breakfast hay.
Mrs. Gumdrop poured the milk into jars which she carefully placed in the ice cold water of a small creek that ran through her yard.
Mrs. Gumdrop had lots to do. She could not run to the store for cream or ice because there was no store as well as no electricity in the Alaskan wildlands where she lived.
But how can you make ice cream if you have no ice? Mrs. Gumdrop had a secret: she knew that sometimes small icebergs were washed up onto the beach at high tide and were left there when the tide went out.
She took her knapsack off a nail by the back door, put on her rubber boots, took an ice pick from her tool box, and off she went to walk to the beach to look for ice. She walked through the blue lupines and the tall grasses, and as she walked she sang a little song which went like this:
I scream
You scream
We all scream
For ice cream!
When she sang this song she laughed and when Mrs. Gumdrop laughed, she jiggled all over for she was round and soft and pink.
Then she stopped. Mrs. Gumdrop saw, right at the water's edge, a small iceberg. She took out her ice pick and went to work, jabbing and chipping at the ice until a piece fell off. It was just the right size for her knapsack. When the knapsack full of ice was on her back, Mrs. Gumdrop walked back home through the blue lupines and the tall grasses. The sun was hot, but the ice on her back kept Mrs. Gumdrop cool.
As it was not yet time to chip the ice up for the freezer, she put the knapsack in the cool shade near the small creek that ran through her yard.
Mrs. Gumdrop then pulled the jars of cold milk from the creek and set them on her kitchen table. She went to the hen house where she gathered up six brown eggs.
These were put on her kitchen table also, next to the jars of milk. She scooped some sugar from the big red sack that was kept in the pantry, added a bottle of vanilla, and she was ready to mix the cream.
Mrs. Gumdrop got her biggest bowl and poured the milk into it. She added the eggs, the sugar, and the vanilla and she stirred it all together. Now it was ready for freezing.
Singing her ice cream sing song, Mrs. Gumdrop chipped the big piece of ice into lots of small pieces that would fit into her old wooden ice cream freezer.
She sang loudly as she turned the handle of the freezer. It was hard work to keep turning and turning that handle. After many songs the handle became so hard to turn that Mrs. Gumdrop knew the ice cream was frozen. She added more ice to keep the ice cream frozen and set the bucket in the shade.
The ice cream looked so good that Mrs. Gumdrop thought it would look even better if there were wild strawberries on top. She decided to wash her hair and roll it up onto curlers so the sunshine and breeze would dry it as she picked the berries.
Soon this was done. Mrs. Gumdrop, with her hair rolled onto very large, pink curlers, took a pail and when she found a good big patch of red, sweet strawberries, down she went onto her knees. She picked and picked, filling her pail with strawberries. It was quiet out there in the wild meadows, so quiet that when she heard a funny noise she stopped picking to listen. It sounded like soft footsteps. And it sounded like chewing. What could make such a funny noise? Mrs. Gumdrop sat straight up on her knees and there, right in the same patch of berries, was a bear. He was chewing all right. He was chewing strawberries! He was eating HER berries! When Mrs. Gumdrop stood up, the
bear stood up too. Strawberry juice ran down his chin as he stared at Mrs. Gumdrop in surprise. They stared at each other for a minute then Mrs. Gumdrop started to laugh. The bear dropped down onto his four legs, turned around, and ran off into the trees.
Mrs. Gumdrop laughed and laughed.
"I guess that bear never saw a person wear curlers before," she said. Still laughing, she went on picking berries until her pail was full.
Back in her kitchen, Mrs. Gumdrop covered the pail of berries with a clean towel. Then she carried the pail out to the backyard root cellar where it would stay cool.
Now Mrs. Gumdrop was through with the job of ice cream making. She had milked the cow, she had gotten the ice, she had made the ice cream, she had picked the strawberries to go on top, AND she had beautiful curly hair. She put on a dress, which had pink flowers all over it, she put on her white socks, the ones with lace around the tops, and she put on her new red sneakers. Finally she tied a tinsel ribbon around her head. She was ready and it was time to leave for the big beach picnic.
Mrs. Gumdrop picked up the old wooden freezer full of ice and ice cream and carefully put it into the cab of her old blue truck. Then she got the pail of strawberries from her backyard root cellar and put it next to the ice cream freezer. Mrs. Gumdrop climbed up into the cab of the truck and off she drove, across the meadows right through the blue lupines and the tall grass.
A bonfire was burning brightly on the beach. Girls and boys were roasting hot dogs, big people stood around talking or fussing over platters and bowls full of food. There was potato salad and lettuce salad. There was brown bread and cornbread. There were baked beans, barbecued salmon, and boiled crabs.
At last it was time for dessert. Everyone looked at Mrs. Gumdrop and Mrs. Gumdrop looked at everyone. The setting sun made the tinsel ribbon in her hair sparkle as she told her story of the bear in the strawberry patch.
"I think that bear never saw a person wearing curlers before," said Mrs. Gumdrop. "Does anyone here want some vanilla ice cream?" she asked. Then, she put scoops of ice cream into paper cups, added strawberries on top, and passed them around.
Everyone was happy. Everyone sang the ice cream song, and EVERYONE said that Mrs. Gumdrop's vanilla ice cream was the best in the whole world.
By Permission - Copyright 2007 Sally Lesh All Rights Reserved
|
|
| Mrs. Gumdrop and the Vanilla Ice Cream. True Story by Sally Lesh, 2005. |
|
Gustavus, Alaska homesteader Jessie Buoy is "Mrs. Gumdrop" in this childrens story written by Sally Lesh in 2005. Jessie & Sally shared friendship, memorable escapades, and an indomitable pioneering spirit. A fitting tribute to Jessie Buoy depicting Gustavus life just as it was.
|
"This is a story about Jessie. I call her Mrs. Gumdrop because she was round, she was sweet, and she was pink. It is a true story for Jessie herself told it to me. She was one great lady who showed all of us who were privileged to know her, that life is a joyful adventure." Sally Lesh, May 22, 2007
Mrs. Gumdrop and the Vanilla Ice Cream
"Hooray! The sun is shining!" Mrs. Gumdrop with her milk pail in hand opened her kitchen door and stepped out into the warm summer day.
Today was a very special day. There was to be a big beach party. Everyone was invited, everyone was to bring something good to eat, and EVERYONE hoped that Mrs. Gumdrop would bring her famous vanilla ice cream because everyone knew that Mrs. Gumdrop made the best vanilla ice cream in the whole world.
Mrs. Gumdrop opened the door of the cow shed, said, "Good morning Pearl" to her cow, sat down on her milking stool and milked Pearl. It was warm and quiet in the cow shed. Only the swish-swish of the milk as it filled the pail and the soft munch-munch as Pearl chewed her breakfast hay.
Mrs. Gumdrop poured the milk into jars which she carefully placed in the ice cold water of a small creek that ran through her yard.
Mrs. Gumdrop had lots to do. She could not run to the store for cream or ice because there was no store as well as no electricity in the Alaskan wildlands where she lived.
But how can you make ice cream if you have no ice? Mrs. Gumdrop had a secret: she knew that sometimes small icebergs were washed up onto the beach at high tide and were left there when the tide went out.
She took her knapsack off a nail by the back door, put on her rubber boots, took an ice pick from her tool box, and off she went to walk to the beach to look for ice. She walked through the blue lupines and the tall grasses, and as she walked she sang a little song which went like this:
I scream
You scream
We all scream
For ice cream!
When she sang this song she laughed and when Mrs. Gumdrop laughed, she jiggled all over for she was round and soft and pink.
Then she stopped. Mrs. Gumdrop saw, right at the water's edge, a small iceberg. She took out her ice pick and went to work, jabbing and chipping at the ice until a piece fell off. It was just the right size for her knapsack. When the knapsack full of ice was on her back, Mrs. Gumdrop walked back home through the blue lupines and the tall grasses. The sun was hot, but the ice on her back kept Mrs. Gumdrop cool.
As it was not yet time to chip the ice up for the freezer, she put the knapsack in the cool shade near the small creek that ran through her yard.
Mrs. Gumdrop then pulled the jars of cold milk from the creek and set them on her kitchen table. She went to the hen house where she gathered up six brown eggs.
These were put on her kitchen table also, next to the jars of milk. She scooped some sugar from the big red sack that was kept in the pantry, added a bottle of vanilla, and she was ready to mix the cream.
Mrs. Gumdrop got her biggest bowl and poured the milk into it. She added the eggs, the sugar, and the vanilla and she stirred it all together. Now it was ready for freezing.
Singing her ice cream sing song, Mrs. Gumdrop chipped the big piece of ice into lots of small pieces that would fit into her old wooden ice cream freezer.
She sang loudly as she turned the handle of the freezer. It was hard work to keep turning and turning that handle. After many songs the handle became so hard to turn that Mrs. Gumdrop knew the ice cream was frozen. She added more ice to keep the ice cream frozen and set the bucket in the shade.
The ice cream looked so good that Mrs. Gumdrop thought it would look even better if there were wild strawberries on top. She decided to wash her hair and roll it up onto curlers so the sunshine and breeze would dry it as she picked the berries.
Soon this was done. Mrs. Gumdrop, with her hair rolled onto very large, pink curlers, took a pail and when she found a good big patch of red, sweet strawberries, down she went onto her knees. She picked and picked, filling her pail with strawberries. It was quiet out there in the wild meadows, so quiet that when she heard a funny noise she stopped picking to listen. It sounded like soft footsteps. And it sounded like chewing. What could make such a funny noise? Mrs. Gumdrop sat straight up on her knees and there, right in the same patch of berries, was a bear. He was chewing all right. He was chewing strawberries! He was eating HER berries! When Mrs. Gumdrop stood up, the
bear stood up too. Strawberry juice ran down his chin as he stared at Mrs. Gumdrop in surprise. They stared at each other for a minute then Mrs. Gumdrop started to laugh. The bear dropped down onto his four legs, turned around, and ran off into the trees.
Mrs. Gumdrop laughed and laughed.
"I guess that bear never saw a person wear curlers before," she said. Still laughing, she went on picking berries until her pail was full.
Back in her kitchen, Mrs. Gumdrop covered the pail of berries with a clean towel. Then she carried the pail out to the backyard root cellar where it would stay cool.
Now Mrs. Gumdrop was through with the job of ice cream making. She had milked the cow, she had gotten the ice, she had made the ice cream, she had picked the strawberries to go on top, AND she had beautiful curly hair. She put on a dress, which had pink flowers all over it, she put on her white socks, the ones with lace around the tops, and she put on her new red sneakers. Finally she tied a tinsel ribbon around her head. She was ready and it was time to leave for the big beach picnic.
Mrs. Gumdrop picked up the old wooden freezer full of ice and ice cream and carefully put it into the cab of her old blue truck. Then she got the pail of strawberries from her backyard root cellar and put it next to the ice cream freezer. Mrs. Gumdrop climbed up into the cab of the truck and off she drove, across the meadows right through the blue lupines and the tall grass.
A bonfire was burning brightly on the beach. Girls and boys were roasting hot dogs, big people stood around talking or fussing over platters and bowls full of food. There was potato salad and lettuce salad. There was brown bread and cornbread. There were baked beans, barbecued salmon, and boiled crabs.
At last it was time for dessert. Everyone looked at Mrs. Gumdrop and Mrs. Gumdrop looked at everyone. The setting sun made the tinsel ribbon in her hair sparkle as she told her story of the bear in the strawberry patch.
"I think that bear never saw a person wearing curlers before," said Mrs. Gumdrop. "Does anyone here want some vanilla ice cream?" she asked. Then, she put scoops of ice cream into paper cups, added strawberries on top, and passed them around.
Everyone was happy. Everyone sang the ice cream song, and EVERYONE said that Mrs. Gumdrop's vanilla ice cream was the best in the whole world.
By Permission - Copyright 2007 Sally Lesh All Rights Reserved
|
|
|
|