Summer's End

As you can tell by the tittle of this post I started it a couple of months ago but as the post states I was very busy at the time and just plain lost track of time...Now that time has slowed and the winter has found it's way into my back yard I again have time to write so I sat down and finished what I had started to write here... Hope that you enjoy the read and I hope that some of the love and warmth that we found in my Momma's kitchen will find its way into your hearts...

Summer is coming to an end and Harvest is upon us...My caner is going a mile a minute these days and as I sit and slice and dice I think upon the days long gone by...Days when my Poppy and I would spend hours in the garden picking all the fruits of our labors...Days when I would spend hours in the kitchen with my Momma as she patiently taught me how to prepare all those things to be preserved for later use and then she patiently showed me how to preserve them too...Those were not only days of hard work and satisfaction for a job well done but a time of delicious smells and laughter  and the many stories that  Momma and Poppy would tell of my ancestors and all the trials and tribulations that they went through to get to where they were and to have the things that God had blessed them with...Poppy would tell me the many stories his father had told him of the old world and planting potatoes and playing in the fields...He would tell me of the hard times and how they all worked together to keep food on the table just as we were doing now...He would tell me to take a good look at all that is around me and to remember that it is a gift I should take good care of so that it would last through my lifetime and that of the many more that would follow after me...Momma would tell me of the times that her and Gram(Who was a tailor and dressmaker) would be working on a dress for some very special occasion and Momma  would get hopelessly tangled in the thread and they would both burst out laughing at the impossibility of the task of getting her untangled again...or of the time when Momma tried to save some money and make all Poppy's shirts one year and ended up with several sleeves of different lengths (oh my did Gram get a kick outta that one) and we laughed just remembering what Poppy looked like standing proudly in his home made shirts...I remember how he smiled at Momma and said "They are perfect and who will ever know since they are always rolled up"...The simple life was how they lived and how they taught me by example that no amount of money could ever buy all the good things in life...Happiness was yours for the taking and if you fall down reach out your hand and the Lord will be there to help you up again...The laughter and the delicious smells will always be with me and the memory of all the love they symbolized will never fade for instilled in me and a crucial part of my life is all of the traditions and recipes for a great simple life that my parents patiently passed on to me and I now pass on to my children and grandchildren and I pray that they will find their roots in those traditions along with many smiles of their own...

So The Children Will Not Have To Fall

Hello Everyone It has been a really long time since I visited here...As a small homestead farm summers and most of the fall goes by with really busy hands and not a lot of time to sit and write but now that the cold weather has found us once again I have time to write a little...Today I am going to share with y'all a poem that I wrote...It is about the many senseless deaths of children in the world today at the hands of their own parents or other caregivers who are supposed to love and protect them...It shows my confusion as to why this is happening when to me there is always a better solution...

So The Children Will Not Have To Fall
There is so much turmoil in this world today...
I cannot understand it all...
I wish that we could find a way...
So children will not have to fall…

I wish that there were more love…
And parents could make the right call…
Look to God above…
So children will not have to fall…

Don’t hurt the littlest ones I pray…
For they are precious above all…
Find a way to safety today…
So children will not have to fall...

Ó Frances Glennon  

November 4, 2014

Saying goodbye...

"We toast to those who have moved on from our world but not from our hearts...As we toast them we also remember to pick ourselves up by the bootstraps plow the fields and plant the seeds because for every ending there is a new beginning and Life goes on"

We met 51 years ago when I came into the world you held my tiny hand and called me Trinket...I was your little girl...as the days went by and I would cry I wanted only you...You toiled hard out in the fields to keep us fed...and as I sit here alone today I can't believe you're gone...You were always so strong somehow you would walk right through any trouble that came your way and as the years flew by I thought that you would live for ever...I am not sure I am ready for you to be gone or to continue on without you but now I see I have no choice because you were not the Superman I thought you were...you were just my normal human Dad...
As I laid a final Rose upon your grave a million memories flashed through my head...Like the time you taught me to swim by throwing me in the pond and yelling sink or swim then jumping in after me to keep my head above the water...or the time that you asked me if I thought I could handle the tractor with the hay wagon on the back and I said of course I can and then promptly dumped the whole load of hay going over the creek oh how mad you got but you just went about re-loading the ones that were dry and setting the wet ones aside for immediate use knowing that sooner or later I would be able to cross that creek and not loose one single blade of hay from that wagon...you taught me so many things without even trying to but I especially remember the time when I was not much more than a babe and you were explaining to me which plants to pull out of the garden and which ones to leave in...there I was squatted down watching you pull the tiny weeds that had dared to pop their heads up in your garden...this became a daily ritual as I watched and learned how to plant to weed to love and to grow the plants that put the food on our table and the tables of many others in our community...you taught me how to respect the land and give thanx for everything it blessed us with...You taught me how to respect myself and others and how to give kindness and love to those in need...
You were a tough Dad at times when we strayed from the straight and narrow path which led to some times when I was growing up that we could just not see eye to eye...I thought you were being mean and you thought I was being careless or irresponsible but through it all I can see now that you just loved me so much you didn't want me to grow up (you wanted your little girl forever)  and though you took great pride in who you were you did not want me to become a poor dirt farmer...you wanted me to go so much further than that(Sorry Poppy but I just could not see anything better to be)...You wanted me strong enough to walk through any trouble that came my way the same as you had done I have done that many times already and I know that eventually I will be strong enough to get on with my life and plant those many seeds that still need to be sowed but right now just for today all I want to do is cry for my heart is broken beyond repair and the only time it will be whole is when we again sit side by side watching as the planted seeds grow and the sun sets on another day...I will never let you go for you will live in my soul forever so this is only a goodbye for now for soon I will be there to talk to you, listen, and just be with you for I am still and always will be your "Little Girl"...I love you Poppy

Mom and Poppy

A lot of Nothing

Well As the title suggests this is a post about a lot of nothing...I just thought that it is a good time to sit down and write for a moment or two...

I have been finding myself increasingly irritated by the way things are going in this world and longing for the good old days when life was simple and no one had excuses why they could not lend a helping hand to others...Back in the day when getting what you needed was simplified by the fact that most bartered with each other...ya know like you called the doctor and he came no matter the time of day or whether or not you could pay him...and if all you had was a dozen eggs you could trade them for his services and he would be glad to take them...A time when people really cared about those around them and if someone came on hard times the community would get together and do everything in their power to make sure the needs of that person or family were met...A time when taking a walk in the woods was a safe endeavor and when kids could run to the store for a treat and you knew they would get there and back safely because your neighbors all knew you and your family and they always watched out for one another...A time when if someone new came into town they were wrapped in warm and welcome feelings from the people in the town...A time when trust came first and anger and violence was avoided as much as absolutely possible...A time when people would strive to be the best neighbor and friend instead of the richest man in town...It was a time of hard work and pride in a job well done but if your neighbor had an accident leaving them unable to do their chores the neighbors all pitched in to get it done...it was a time when good and bad were felt and dealt with together as a community and no one was left on their own to deal with things that are hard to handle...when the safety net was everyone around you not just one or two...Don't get me wrong I do know that there were bad people back then as there is now but the good people were not afraid to get involved in stopping them...We had morals and we lived by them...
Today the way that I see it we have lost our morals, we live in a dog eat dog world and no one cares what happens to the guy next door and seldom they don't even know their neighbors name...So many are now so preoccupied chasing after a dollar bill that they ignore or miss the best things in life...