Grandma Hadley was a Peach

My Grandma Hadley was a peach.  She had to be because my Grandpa Hadley was a prune.  Don't get me wrong.  I loved the guy, but he could be a grouch.  

He just said what he thought, but thankfully, he didn't think much.  He was an Archie Bunker type, with his chair in the center of the living room, so he could scope out anyone or anything that came into the room.  He worked a LOT.  He farmed, and ran a blacksmith shop, and he managed to bring 11 kids into this world.  Don't know how he found the time.  He passed away before my Grandma Hadley, but she continued to live in her family home.  Since she lived alone, my Mother would rotate myself and my siblings to stay with her in the Summer.  

Grandma was a story teller, and a nature lover.  She had what seemed like a hundred Doves living in a Dove Cote, and about 10 Parakeets in her living room.  I loved the Doves, but the Parakeets drove me crazy.  The only time they were quiet was when Grandma covered the cages for the night.  

Grandma used to sit by the window, and call Quail up to her house.  That amazed me!  I thought she was a bird whisperer, and the name hadn't even been invented.  My only complaint about Grandma Hadley was that she used to make Sasafras Tea for the kids.  It tasted fine, but I have found since that it causes Cancer.  Grandma lived to be 90+ and very seldom had a sick day.  Don't know if it was the Sasafras, or just good genes.  Either way, I have had my share of both.