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The story of our houseboat
Aug 31 - 1988
Mr. Hover had a man help Stephen (our son) to build the boat for our pleasure. The boat was 60 ft long and 14 ft wide. It had five doors, one in each end, and one on each side also one that went from the kitchen into the bunk room. Then there was two windows in the front, one on each side of the door, tow on each side of the living room and one on each side of the kitchen, one over the sink where there was a pump that furnished water for dishes and such like. Then we took our water from home from an artisan well to use for drinking and cooking. The bunk room was right on from the kitchen with four bunk beds, then right on out the back door was the rest room and it had a porch (some call it gallery) from one end to the other all the way around and an iron banister all the way around too. Also had a window in the bunk room on both sides. The walls were lined with light paneling also was the kitchen cabinets. The porch was six foot wide. I had a big rocking chair on the porch where I sat to fish. Never caught many fish there but it was fun to sit there and get a nibble now and then. If I really wanted to fish and catch some nice ones I'd go down aways from the house boat and fish off from the bank. We had two big couches that opened up into beds in the front room and the four bunk beds in the back room, then on down from the front room was the kitchen with table, chairs, stove, refrigerator and sink under one window. We have slept as many as twelve people but had to throw a pallet on the floor for the little folks. Every one always enjoyed the times we were our the boat with the exception of one time. Willie had told me not to take any one on the boat until he could have some bolts that had come loose tightened, but I had forgotten that he told me, so one day Volney, Sis and Wesley and Sabra all come over from Moss Point and I had a big pot of white beans, rice, sweet potatoes and some kind of meat cooked so I said Volney; would you all like to lets take our dinner and go the house boat and spend the day? and he said we sure would. So we loaded everything up and took off to Nezan and as luck had it, unless it was the Lord who sent Willie home early that day instead of luck. Anyway, we had all ate dinner and I had laid down on the sofa (or couch) and took a little nap so at three o'clock Volney woke me up and said here Mamma, get up and drink your coffee and just as he handed me the cup something like a clap of thunder knocked the cup out of my hand and none of us knew what had happened except Willie he said you all get
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