• Dog days of summer…

    September 2, 2021 / No Comments

    I grew up in the South.  Until I was about twelve or thirteen, we did not have air conditioning.  My niece Sharon and I (she is two and a half years younger than I) played outside all day long as I recall.  I really don’t remember the heat being all that intense.  Maybe it’s just old age playing tricks on my memory.  I remember we drank water out of the backyard hose after we learned to let it run long enough to get cool!  I remember picking fresh tomatoes from the vine and fruit from the trees and eating those.  We were healthy kids who were seldom sick.  Must be something to be said for lots of fresh air and sunshine.

    Now, I feel the heat intensely – the heat and the humidity.  I live in Iowa and it is just about as hot and humid here as in the South.  About this time every year, I think Alaska sounds like a good idea!

    The “dog days of summer” are those last hot days from the end of July to about the middle of August.  The flowers have bloomed and they’re looking a little worse for wear now.  The grass struggles to get enough rain during this dry season and we are grateful for every inch of rain that falls.  I begin to look forward to Fall just as the pages of the calendar approach the beginning of August.  Of course, Autumn is my favorite season and that could have something to do with it.  Autumn just does not last long enough…

  • Sweet visit south…

    June 12, 2021 / 1 Comment

    Mid April, Doug and I, along with our seven month old Cocker Spaniel Beau, traveled South.  Beau actually was a very good traveler which surprised us both.  We spent one night with my niece and her husband and the next morning we all traveled about an hour south to my sister’s home.

    I wasn’t able to be there for Eddie’s Celebration of Life service a few weeks before, so it was sad not to find him there to welcome us as he usually did.  I remembered the stories he had told us on our last visit and I could hear his laughter in my mind.  He will be missed so much.  I took a walk around the property and into one of his favorite places – the little barn.  The horses are gone now, of course, but I remember his amazing way with them.  He truly was a “horse whisperer”.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Doug and Beau traveled back to Iowa the following morning and I stayed behind for a much needed visit with my sister.  My nieces Sharon, Cindy and Leigh all traveled to spend a couple of nights with us.  That was so much fun!  So much laughter and catching up.  I loved it.  We indulged in my favorite caramel cake from Sugaree’s in New Albany, Mississippi, as well as their amazing cupcakes and chocolate pie!

    On Sunday, we had a wonderful visit with my sister’s daughters and their families.  My niece Becky and her husband Tommy brought delicious Corky’s barbecue.  Always a treat!  As a matter of fact, there was a small wedding on the front porch on Sunday (my great niece and her fiance’)!  We all enjoyed delicious cake and fresh fruit after the barbecue.

    My sister and I had decided that each visit we could accomplish one project and the rest of the time we’d relax and visit!  Our project this time was the front porch.  Doug, my niece Sharon and her husband Tommy painted the front porch swings and one of the rockers that needed freshening up.  I had ordered some pillows and quilts for the front porch, and the end result was wonderful.  Rather like Country Living Magazine of days past.  My niece Sharon painted the delightful board for the front porch.  The weather was great and we spent a lot of time enjoying the front porch swing – from coffee in the morning to late afternoon sweet tea!

     

     

     

     

     

    One of my favorite places to visit in the nearby town is the antique store.  Of course, I was flying home and wouldn’t be able to take anything with me!

    A sweet visit with wonderful memories until next time.

  • Mama’s tea cakes…

    March 9, 2021 / No Comments

    I’ve been craving my mama’s Southern Tea Cakes for several weeks now.  I tried making a “healthy” version of them using King Arthur baking sugar substitute and almond flour.  I have to tell you, they were terrible.  Not even remotely like the freshly baked tea cakes that would be waiting for me when I got home from school.  If your heart is set on something, a not too good substitute just doesn’t satisfy.

    So, today I made the real thing…from Mama’s recipe.    No substitutions.  Real vanilla extract.  Real sugar.  Real butter.  I followed the instructions carefully and even sifted the flour and baking powder together.  (Sometimes I skip the sifting but not today.)  I iced half of them with the chocolate icing Mama used to make.  Butter, milk, cocoa and powdered sugar.  Finally, my craving for tea cakes was satisfied.  I only made one dozen.  After those are gone, it’s right back to our healthy eating.  But, sometimes, you just have to reach back in time and enjoy the memories.

    Years ago, after mama passed away, I made a cookbook of her recipes and a family tree at that time.  Our family tree has grown and I have found more of her recipes, so I need to redo this little book.

     

     

  • A different time…

    October 10, 2020 / 2 Comments

    Have you ever considered what your life would have been like to have been born in a different time?  I’ve seen enough westerns to know I would not have particularly enjoyed crossing the plains and mountains in a covered wagon.  More than likely, neither did the pioneers.  Theirs dreams were set on a better life waiting for them.  My ancestors traveled by wagons from the mountains of North Carolina into the hills of Tennessee and on to Mississippi…after they had traveled by ship from Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England.  I’ve traveled to North Carolina and been to the mountain log cabin that my immigrant ancestor built.  (He sold the homestead to the first physician in the state of North Carolina and the state has rebuilt it – since it was originally built in the mid 1700’s!)  Once my ancestors finally arrived in the piney woods of Mississippi, they built dog-trot style farm houses and grew their farms and their families.  Those were hard times, especially before and after The Civil War for our ancestors in the South.

     

     

    I think what has prompted all this reflection is a British series that I’ve been watching these past few weeks:  Lark Rise to Candleford.  A gift from my daughter.  As stated on the BBC website,  the series is an “adaptation of Flora Thompson’s memoir of her Oxfordshire childhood, set in the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the wealthier neighboring market town, Candleford, at the end of the 19th Century”.  The contrasts in the way of life between the small hamlet of Lark Rise and the neighboring town Candleford were evident.  If you haven’t seen this series, it is wonderful and I highly recommend it.  You can google it to see ways that you could watch.  You could purchase the set or watch it on BritBox.  I loved the costume fashions in the series.  Not sure that would have been the time period for me either.  Regardless of the weather, the women were dressed in layers that included bloomers, petticoats, a corset, their top layers and sometimes a jacket!

    I’m especially fascinated by the time period before and after World War II.  Some of my favorite movies are set during that time period:  Mrs. Miniver, Since You Went Away, The Fighting Sullivans, Casa Blanca, The White Cliffs of Dover, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Shining Through.  All but Shining Through were filmed in the 1940’s.  Shining Through was filmed in the 1980’s I believe.  One of my favorite movies of all time is set in the Guernsey Islands (which Doug and I visited on our British Isles tour and loved).  It is called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.  Well worth the time spent watching it.

    World War II ended on September 2, 1945.  I was born December 1, 1945.  Not sure what it is about that time period that fascinates me so.  I would have loved to be a set designer on the films set during that time period.  The fashions from that time period especially appeal to me – the suits, the shoes – all of it.  I remember the cottage that we lived in from the time I was two years of age until nine years of age.  It was decorated much like a set from one of the movies I mentioned above.  Recently, I saw a set of dishes advertised in our local Facebook Marketplace.  A set of 8 plates from 1946!  I purchased them.  They’re from Crown Potteries, made in the USA.  They remind me of an earlier time and place.  Maybe the older you grow, the more nostalgic you become.  As far as I know, we did not have dishes like these when I was growing up.  The family members who would have remembered are all in Heaven now.  I would love to have cups and saucers to go with the plates, but these dishes are long ago out of production.  A simple set of dishes that could have graced any farm table back in the 40’s and 50’s.

     

  • Gerry…

    October 14, 2019 / No Comments

    Eight years ago yesterday, I was in Chicago meeting my new little granddaughter Maggie.  I can’t remember who called on the telephone, probably one of my nieces, Cindy or Sharon.  I just remember the tears starting as I realized what she was going to tell me.  My beloved sister Gerry had lost her battle with ALS.  I hadn’t said a word but Maggie’s precious mom took one look at me and her tears started too.  I was due to fly to Memphis in a week and spend time with Gerry.  It wasn’t meant to be.  I changed my flight and flew home for her funeral service instead.

    Gerry was one in a million.  I’ve written about her before.  If you’ve read my blog very long, then you know she was my guardian angel.  The one I fled to when my heart was broken.  Fifteen years older, she was the one who always made sure I had what I needed.  The one who saved an engraved, gold Elgin watch for me until I was twelve and old enough for it (she had won it for being President of the Mississippi 4H when she was eighteen).  She was so good to everyone, not just me, but I was her baby sister and that’s what she always called me.  Her baby sister.

    She loved the Lord with all her heart and I know she’s loving Heaven.  If there are angel biscuits to be made in Heaven, she’s the best one for that job.  Faithful to the end.  It was hard flying back to Oregon after her memorial service.  Back in Oregon, I would sit at my computer overlooking the beautiful mountains in the distance and I would cry.  Evidently, I cried too long for my husband at the time asked “are you EVER going to quit crying?!”  I didn’t know there was a time limit on grief, but I tried to cheer up.  It wasn’t his fault really.  He hadn’t known her very well and certainly not like I did.  We were divorced a year later.

    Each year gets a little easier.  I miss her and my sister Dot so much.  She and my oldest sister Dot are keeping Mama and Daddy company in Heaven.  They’re wondering when Eunice and I are going to get there but let’s hope it’s a little while longer.  In the meantime, I’ll remember the good times and cherish the sweet memories.  

     

    Below:  Gerry in front of the pond down from their “house on the hill”…

     

    Below:  Gerry, Bill, Eunice and Dot.  Just Eunice and I are left now.  The rest are in Heaven.

     

  • Silver memories…

    October 4, 2019 / No Comments

    Years ago, Bobbie Allen, my precious mother-in-law for 39 years, picked out a special gift for me at Christmas.  It was heavy, beautifully wrapped and waiting for me under the Christmas tree.  It really was very heavy, so I had no idea what it could be.  She and my sweet, gentle father-in-law watched, smiling, as I picked it up and began opening it.  It was a large, wooden box and I was puzzled.  I opened it carefully and gleaming sterling silver filled the box.  Well, technically sterling silverplate, but back then, even silverplate was very expensive.  All the pieces were heavy, beautifully crafted and in a simple pattern I loved.  She knew me well.

    Through the years, that silverware has been used at holidays, special occasions, parties and even for a season, every day.  When Doug and I moved here to our home in Iowa, I found the heavy wooden box and the beautiful pieces inside.

    With the way the light falls, you can’t tell from the photo, but each piece is polished and shining.

    Today I polished each piece with silver polish.  Then I washed the silverware in hot, soapy water, rinsed and dried each piece carefully.  Tomorrow night, this silverware will be used at my fifteen-year-old granddaughter’s special homecoming dinner that she is hosting for her date and two other couples.  All high school students and probably all in the high school band she’s in.  My daughter is preparing one of her special homemade pasta dishes, a salad and french bread.  Eclair cake for dessert.  Sounds delicious!  Yesterday, my daughter, youngest grandson and I went to Hobby Lobby to buy Autumn decorations for the table.  No doubt, it will all be lovely and a memorable occasion.  Somehow, I think Bobbie Allen would have loved it…