Just a poem or two..

" Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs in one go. " ~ Truman Capote

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Project 365- a photo every day...

Penny Candy


soda bottle hide and seek
plus a dollar every week

what did I buy you want to know
well listen close cause here I go

root beer barrels.. chewy sprees
bazooka gum and jujubes

Laffy Taffy.. Charleston chew
lemon drops and long boy blue

squirrel nut zippers.. Mary Jane
chocolate drops and candy cane

sugar daddies.. babies too
caramels to name a few

fruit in slices or in rings
chic-o-stick and licorice strings

charms and chicklets.. dumdum sucker
apple heads your lips to pucker

hot tamales.. almond joy
cookies too .. like chips ahoy

jolly rancher.. tootsie roll
life saver candy with a hole

slo poke.. slap stix.. pixy straws
fireballs hot will give you pause

big jaw breakers.. zero bar
ginger snaps pulled from a jar

jelly beans and one black cow
bottle caps to eat right now

sweet tarts.. baked beans.. Jr. mint
penny candy heaven sent

milk duds and a bit of honey
that is how I spent my money

I loved my uncle's country store
but I loved candy even more...

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
7-29-2011

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Celebration


airplanes landed all afternoon
dignitaries on board..
practicing their fake smile

hammers on the new roof
you raced with daylight.. and the next storm..
our date forgotten

a test of the cannons scared me
and the other chickens..
we all crowed

darkness fell slowly
held at bay by the throngs..
gathering gossip for tomorrow

with the first flash high in the sky
eruptions of Oh's and Ah's turned
into loud cheers and clapping

with the jubilation of strangers echoing
through the night..
we joined hands in celebration....

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
7-3-2011

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Thanks for stopping by.. I welcome both comments and followers..
Have a great day!
Patsy

No.. I am not Suffering from Writers Block....

"I think writer's block is simply the dread that you are going to write something horrible. But as a writer, I believe that if you sit down at the keys long enough, sooner or later something will come out." ~ Roy Blount Jr.

"The only cure for writer's block is insomnia." ~Merit Antares

“Writer's block is the greatest side effect of boredom”~ Jason Zebehazy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It appears that there is a rumor going around that I am suffering from the dreaded terrible ailment that has been known to attack writers... writers block.... Let me thank you for your concern and your very lovely flood of emails.. thanks also for the titles and the word lists and all the wonderful prompts that I have been gifted with this week.. I will eventually make poems or stories from your word lists and will even post them here... I am perfectly fine and am not suffering from writers block... I reckon it could erupt from the sky and cover me in a black and mindless void at any second..( I don't really think that!).. but so far it has never held me in it's grasp.. there have been times when I didn't want to write anything and to have forced myself would have made me write something weird..or even weirder than normal..and there have been times..like this past week.. when I was completely wrapped up in something else that I wanted to get finished up with.. If I am suffering from anything this week it would be extreme wrist weariness and multi-childhood-memory overload...Let me explain...

I am known for my love of photo's.. I adore them.. I love to get them in e-mail and I will hoard them on my computer and make scrapbook pages for my family and my friends of their great memories.. I have a huge stack of binders and when the children come to see me they will search for the binder that they might have a new page in.. I never know when the urge will strike me so I have always kept all of my pictures on my computer.. I should have learned a lesson when my first one bit the dust.. and I really should have known better after the second and third ones followed.... but I am me.. I never learned and not to long ago I got up one fine morning to another disaster.. I had been working on a photo project most of the year.. I had arranged and re- focused and cropped and flipped and straightened photo's for a whole year.. I had the entire project ready to be burned to video disks for my family for Christmas gifts.. I had also done them for my children and stepchildren... I was just waiting to get the disks.. I hate shopping.. I would have bought the blank disks when I did my yearly Christmas shopping trek next week.. and then with the blink and the flicker of a motherboard croaking all my work was gone... Many many many many.. did I even say many?? of my photo's were made with my own digital camera and are now and apparently forever gone away..

But.. Y'all knew I had a but didn't you?.. I have family who wants my gift.. They have pulled out old Photo's and new photo's and wedding photo's and children photo's and more and more and more photo's... and for the last week and a half I have relived every one's memories..weddings and birthdays.. Easters and Christmases.. and so many Halloweens.. Daddy and Davey surrounded by a million fish from the Mississippi river and Mama when she was 16 riding her bike.. I am going to be 50 in two weeks.. I am her seventh child.. that picture goes way way back..

As I look at the pictures and scan them and crop some and straighten others.. I get a sense of what life must have been like for them.. I see happiness and sometimes deep sadness in their eyes.. I feel the tingle that goes with the toss of a wedding bouquet and the shiver of fear when first holding your newborn child..From my oldest brother to my baby sister I have redone them all in just over a week.. I have spent long hours scanning and looking and searching through stacks and stacks of Photo's... I still have myself and my children to do.. we won't be hard.. I already know what pictures I want of each child and grandchild.. I will finish the project by the end of this week... I won't have some of the photo's that I wanted in there.. but I will have others that other people have allowed me to borrow and scan.. and thanks to Dave and Emily I won't have to worry about losing them again... this time Dave went out and bought me a flash drive just for my photo's and Emily showed me how to set it up and make separate folders for each of my siblings and my crowd of "children"...

No.. I am not suffering from writers block.. I am not sick.. I am tired if that counts?? I might have memory overload but I am thinking that a writer never has too many memories even if they are borrowed from someone else..... I have included an Etheree about the dreaded ailment known to afflict almost every writer at some point in time.... Writer's Block!
Have a great day!
Patsy

Writer's Block

I 
Upon
You stumbled
In my Path way.
A block stopping my
Pen from forming fine words.
Creativity bound tight.
No thoughts Appearing on Paper.
I rest Atop your grayness and sing.
I then write a poem to you; Writer's Block.

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
3-19-2008

Three things for Thursday!

"Poetry is an orphan of silence. The words never quite equal the experience behind them."
~ Charles Simic

"Sixty years ago I knew everything; now I know nothing; education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." ~ Will Durant

"By all means marry.. if you get a good wife.. you will become happy.. if you get a bad one you will become a philosopher!" ~ Socrates


Today has been busy; busy; busy.. we did our regular every single day things like finding eggs and feeding chickens and birds and dogs.. we made some pictures to use for What is it Tuesdays and some just because I have a wonderfully willing man.. How many men do you know that will catch and hold a chicken because you want a picture of it.. and it keeps walking away from you and the camera?.. Remember that these boogers have spurs and they aren't all that keen on being caught or held.. We did laundry.. We also cleaned house.. Then I cooked a big lunch and was glad when Emily; Luke and Kirstin stopped by and ate a meal with us... Then Dave went away to work ... I sat down to write and to do my drops for entrecard.... That didn't last long since writing and the telephone don't mix.... So I went and made last evening gathering of eggs.... then I pickled 7 dozen quail eggs... ~They are already promised to a fellow that says he'll buy all I pickle.. I think he meant to add... within reason!.. I get at least a dozen quail eggs a day so I could fix him a lot of pickled eggs.. more than he could eat I'll bet.... But oh they are so time consuming to shell.. they are so tiny.. I use vinegar to help me dissolve the shells but they still take a bit of time.. Busy; Busy; Busy!! ~ OK.. I have bored you with my busy day enough.. Now on to the three things for Thursday!

1~) Thursday's Photo Challenge!

Today's theme~"TRANQUIL"
(Quiet, Peaceful, Still, Calm, Serene, Garden, Forest, Beach)
My children and I all Love the Ocean!
Cooper~ Hunting Island~ April 13~ 2003


2-) "TRANQUIL" ~ an acrostic poem..

"TRANQUIL"

Totally peaceful~ a picnic in the park.
Restful~ relaxing~ fishing~ riverside.
Amazing~ building castles~ at oceans edge.
No strife ~ no stress~ cloud watching.
Quiet and calming~ a misty midnight walk.
Untroubled ~ unusual~ under the moss draped oaks.
Idyllic ~ impressive~ stars on a black velvet sky.
Longed for~ nature's music~ lovers hand in hand.

Written BY: Patricia Sawyer
9-3-2009

3-) just some thoughts~ the word of the day for the photo sight was tranquil~ (I say that as if you don't already know it..) I think about how busy; busy; busy our lives are these days.. I do remember when life was simple.. when the biggest decision I had to make was rather Reuben and I would steal.. ( let's say borrow instead!) the green box of jello or the red one to take with us to the train tracks for a snack.. we didn't care for jello .. it was slimy and wiggly and jiggly.. but we loved jello powder.. we were kids.. now they have a candy similar to that.. When our whole day revolved around catching frogs and running from Jimmy and playing hopscotch.. Reuben and Martha were both good hoppers.. I could sit for hours and watch Trudy roll her hair and try on make up.. I wasn't allowed to touch it but I liked to watch her make funny faces as she painted herself a face.. Sheron and I pulled all of the seed pods from the wisteria vine and painted them with her water colors.. She decreed that they were magical velvet beans.. We even set up a stand in front of her house and sold them to passers by for a nickel.. Cousin( said Cuddin) Debby and her Husband Cousin Dave bought one from each of us.. Sheron told them they could hang them from their Christmas tree.. I wonder if they did?.. you couldn't do that now without a permit!.. with Sheron.. everything is magical.. she doesn't realize how special she is.. I love her to pieces.. I have a vine.. maybe I'll gather me up a crew of kids and Sheron and paint velvet beans.. Frank told us if we could get close enough to put salt on a birds tail we could catch him.. we spent countless hours with a salt box laying in the bushes waiting for a bird... we salted crickets and centipedes and each other .. but we never got close enough to salt a birds tail... My sister Mary and I were going to become rich by writing a book.. I was going to do the writing and she was going to be the illustrator.. She used to draw the best pictures.. she would draw Paper dolls and coloring pages.. we even set us up a studio one summer in the smoke house... she bargained somehow with Jimmy to set us both up desk from some old boards and a few cement blocks.. we spent that whole summer shut up in the smoke house.. working on our million dollar book.. me writing and her drawing.. us talking about how we would spend our million... Mary mentioned our book today .. I wish I still had it.. I wish she would illustrate my poetry.. I personally think she and I would still make a great team.. Grandma Morris gave me a brownie Hawkeye camera when she got a new one and I made pictures of everyone posing them just so..
I was going to be a writer and a photographer.. and a magic bean painter.... but mostly a writer...
Then we all grew up.... we took on responsibilities.. Mary went to work and quit drawing paper dolls and I eventually quit writing for a long (way too long!) time.. husbands and kids and technology entered our world and changed our lives.. stress became a big part of every day.. we quit eating jello powder.. ( well I still do sometimes make fake strawberry's from it and eat them.) I miss the simpler times.. the tranquility of playing with my siblings in the early evening dusk.. Mama and Daddy talking quietly on the front porch steps.. sitting close together on the top step.. sharing their day and their thoughts and dreams.... and then as soon as we finished singing ain't no boogers out tonight.... Up from the azalea bed jumped Jimmy and the tranquility was over as we ran screaming and hollering all the way back to Daddy and Mama and falling all over each other... filling up the steps as the first stars twinkled in a night sky and the fireflies lit up the flowerbeds where the boogers lived.. and we rested there on that tiny porch on our little white house... peaceful and Untroubled...

Have a great day!
Patsy

Pig in the Blanket Day!

"When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade."
- Dale Carnegie, 1888 - 1955

"There is something wrong when you wait in line thirty minutes to get a hamburger that was cooked for ninety seconds an hour ago."
- Lewis Grizzard, 1946 - 1994

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate."
- Julia Child, 1912 - 2004

"Please understand the reason why Chinese vegetables taste so good. It is simple. The Chinese do not cook them, they just threaten them!"
- Jeff Smith, The Frugal Gourmet Cooks with Wine, 1986

Today is pig in the blanket day. A day you can really sink your teeth into. First of all let me say that I don't know who decides what day is what or who names all the days. Some are silly to me. Some are very interesting even though it might be a day no one ever thought of celebrating before. I get an e-mail every morning telling me what day it is. After all I would hate for Bologna sandwich day to have passed me by with-out me knowing it now wouldn't I? I keep thinking that one of these early mornings I'll come in here and sit down to an e-mail that says "Hey Stupid~ Today is just another day.. Get a life and quit thinking every day is important!" So far that hasn't happened. So far, for the last few years, every day has been something or other day. So far each day has had either an important historical or maybe just a sentimental reason to be important.

When I opened my early morning " Today IS" e-mail this morning I was surprised and excited to see that today is Pig in the blanket day. I love to search and google and even image search every day to fully check out each days meaning. For any of you who are about to do that now.. let me give you fair warning... anything that comes up about a real pig.. delete that, don't even go look! It's scary! A pig in the blanket has very little to do with a real pig and it's only connection to a blanket is that Blanket means cover or covering. A pig in the blanket is a hot dog or sausage wrapped or covered in something and cooked.

First you should choose your pig. Some p[people do like sausages for their pigs. I personally prefer wieners. I like the cheap kind myself because I am going to need lots of them. Especially if one of the kids finds out I'm making them. I also want my pigs plump. You never hear of anyone butchering a skinny hog. So first thing on the ingredient list is fat cheap hot dogs and lots of them.

Next comes the blanket. The choices for covering your hot dogs is quiet a long list. Some people use those corn bread twists things that come in a can like biscuits. That's too much like a corn dog to me. If I want a corn dog I want it to come from the fair and be just out the grease hot when I get it... No corn meal in my blanket please. I ate what was called a pig in a blanket recently. It was a hot dog wrapped in a can biscuit then baked till the biscuit was done. They were served with chili and ketchup and mustard. They weren't bad.. The biscuit was to me a little over done, but all in all they were not too bad. Just like a hot dog in fact. I think if I wanted a hot dog; I'd just cook hot dogs.

I love pig in the blankets. My Husband loves them and my kids and Grandson love them too. I have loved them for years and tears and years. My Mama cooked the very first ones I ever ate a long long time ago when I was just a child. The recipe is simple. The ingredients are simple. The combination results in a great quick supper.

The shopping lists is short, fat cheap hot dogs . I usually get three of the eight packs. They reheat well so Dave can take any leftovers of these to work. Next on the list is bacon. Yes Bacon! My blanket is pig. get enough bacon so that each wiener can have it's own slice. Again I choose the low price bacon. The last ingredient is cheese. You can use the sliced cheese in a pinch or if you like it then you can use it without a pinch! I like block cheese for these. I usually even spring for Craft sharp cheddar for these. Sometimes I will do half of them with cheddar and half with Pepper jack. They are great either way. You will also need some plain wooden toothpicks.

To begin with you will want to split each hot dog down the middle but cut carefully so that you don't cut all the way through the skin on one side. You will need a sharp knife for this. This split is where we will be putting the cheese in just a minute. I have known people to put Ketchup and mustard here but I don't. I always use cheese. Once I have split all of my hot dogs, I usually do all the other steps to each pig in the blanket one at the time till I am done.

Now I put a tiny thin strip of my cheese into the split and then wrap each wiener in it's slice of bacon. I usually slice the cheese ahead and tuck it into the wiener tucking the first end of the bacon under the end of the strip of cheese. Next I wind the wiener in it's bacon blanket and when I get to the other end I stick a toothpick through the bacon and into the hot dog. I will say that the wrapping them in bacon takes the longest. I always marvel at the fact that mama used to make enough of these for ten of us. Even more when they had foster children there. I guess she must have liked us a lot to stand and make that many pig in the blankets. We all loved them we were all good eaters!

Once all your pigs are split, stuffed, wrapped, it's time to cook them. Lay them all on a flat baking pan. you will want some sides on the pan because bacon gives off grease. We don't want any oven fires on pig in the blanket day. I cook mine in the oven; on about 400 degrees. There are done when the bacon is done and the cheese is melted. I usually have a salad with my pigs or maybe if Mason is here I'll make macaroni and cheese as well.

All this talk about pigs in a blanket has made me hungry. I will be having some pig in the blankets with ketchup and a vegetable salad. I will think about Mama's Cooking while I eat too many of them. I will enjoy every bite I take.

Does some food take you back to your childhood. Does it take you back to a time when life was still simple? Back to a time when you still colored outside of the lines? Enjoy your food. Try new things. Maybe you will try a pig in the blanket. Maybe you will remember a food that you loved as a child and try it again. Have a memory supper. Have a great day!
Patsy

Sometimes I don't Explain.

"Personality is to a man what perfume is to a flower." ~ Charles Schwab

"We should measure affection, not like youngsters by the ardor of its passion, but by its strength and constancy."~ Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106 - 43 BC

a word list of ~ Hope; Happy; Hungry; Home; Health; Hand; Harmony; Heart; Holy; Honey; Hymn ~from sunshine

When people send me a word list and I read it over. I normally read it over a few times. Sometimes I get an image immediately like with this list. Other times I get more than one image and other times I have to think on the list a day or two for a poem or story to begin to take shape in my mind.

Sometimes I explain where the images come from. Sometimes I just write about the feelings or in this case the memory. I should actually say Memories. Sometimes if the Poem is very personal or the memories are not necessarily good ones I just write and don't explain. This is one of those times. I am sure that if you read it over and ponder on the words for a while you will be able to peek into my past and maybe even feel some of what I felt way back then.. Thankfully it was way back then! Most of my poems are of a personal nature. Most come from actual happenings in my life or from happenings I observed in the lives of family and friends.

The first Poem today was wrote from a word list sent to me by Sunshine. Thanks again Sunshine for all the lists you have sent and for being a faithful reader. The second poem I am posting today is about the same time period in my life. Just not wrote from a word list..

And finally, I have been chosen to read my Poem about Rosa Parks this Saturday~ February 21st at 5pm at the Black History celebration in Barnwell SC. The celebration will be held at the Barnwell County Library. It has no cover charge and we will be having some wonderful refreshments. I was thrilled to be chosen and surprised as well. The poem is titled Get to the Back of the Bus! and can be found here on this blog by looking back in the list in the side bar to Rosa Parks day. Of course we would love to have you attend the celebration as well!

Please enjoy the poems Posted here today! And I hope each and everyone who reads this blog has a great day!
Patsy


Fallen Sand Castles

Hope built upon the sand
as castles before the waves.
Heart filled with Puppy love
and hymns sung beneath
Daddy's watchful eye.

Nothing Holy remains
Happy a forgotten word.
Love drowned in Jack and coke
before he was thee years old.
No harmony in that house
that house not a home.

Her health a poor excuse to stay
a good excuse to leave him home.
Praying no one would see.
My hand on fire as it closed
on the frozen food.

Filling my pack ~ without looking
Hungry doesn't care
as long as it's fed.
A starving beast~ wild
Anything a feast
after three days.

Afraid of getting caught.
Pride a terrible thing.
It always grows before the fall.
Tonight we eat like a king
in a land of milk and honey.
Pigtails and peas with rice.

Never knowing he knew
till the end. ~ Grateful
that he understood.
wishing I could change things.
Ashamed of my actions.
Sometimes sand castles fall.

Holding a feverish hand I
laughed until I cried.
I should have thrown down
that foolish pride. I could have had
steaks and chops too.

I still have the old key
He passed to me.
I hold it in my hand sometimes.
The old freezers long gone.
I Hold on to it remind me.
Sometimes Sand castles fall.

There isn't much a parent
misses. Hidden in our eyes.
Remember that and remember too
that The good stuff is locked away
But that Daddy shares with all!

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
2-12-2009

Losing Faith

Angels fly by on ruby wings
Pale dragons Blowing pearls of fire.
Dream of hearts Unspoken secrets
Hopeless truth hiding in my eyes.

The first wind is lifting in wonder
Singing our sweet promise words
Loving souls settle at twilight
sweetest Hope springs pure

Silver Threads of moonlight
enter this darkened Place
as I kneel, always Hopeful,
Always in Prayer

I am trapped here
Always waiting
Waiting with-in the lies

Angelic forms Born of lost hope
swirl as the dust dances in the air
forcing an image in my mind
sparing not my secret soul.

Tears on my child's face
his joy devoured, His devotion ignored!
his love important no More!
I raise my head! I rise to a Stand!
I defy this Callous reality!

Written By: Patricia Sawyer
1992


(it seems I might have to make one tiny explanation here after all.. NO I did not loose faith in God! I have never done that even in my darkest hour. I lost faith in a person. Maybe I should say I lost ALL faith in a person. That is something that can not be recovered.!)

Cleaning Out the House!

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. ~Phyllis Diller~

Housework can't kill you, but why take a chance? ~Phyllis Diller~




I like to think I keep a pretty clean house. I have real issues with having dirty dishes or dirty floors around me so those I might even over clean. But for a few weeks now I haven't been cleaning UP the house. I have been cleaning OUT the house. Believe me there is a huge difference. And in My case I haven't cleaned out the house since I moved here so It was way passed time.



In a little less than a Month I will have been living here for sixteen years. I moved here a single Mom with three kids and a spare. George was My oldest son's best friend and needed a place to live and he chose us. We allowed him to stay. Dave joined us two years after that along with David and Jennifer. We all enjoyed life here and almost never ruined anything. The kids took great care of their toys and we found out that you can pack a lot of stuff into small closets. Dresser drawers hold almost more stuff than you can imagine too. Boxes built from scrap lumber can be stacked to hold even more great old stuff. Un-used suitcases under the bed.. Wow.. Lets fill those with every one's baby clothes and even Anthony's first Cowboy boots. Emily's first patent leather shoes have a shelf of their own. Cooper's sheriffs uniform made from "Aunt Ruby's" real one couldn't be gotten rid of. He might want that for his own son one day.



David and Jennifer's first report cards after we married and All the school papers they brought home that year fill a desk drawer. Reports they worked so hard on and booklets they made for school fill another. Tiny teeth paid for with quarters and dimes fill a prince Albert tobacco can. They were hidden behind those tiny shoes of Emily's. Cigars from I guess every birth in the family have a cigar box all of their own to stay hidden inside. Some say Girl, Some say Boy! The box was Daddy's I have to keep that. I bet you are beginning to understand why I needed to clean OUT the house.

Cleaning OUT means carefully opening boxes and drawers that haven't been disturbed in a while. It means digging through old papers and photo's and baskets and files. It means looking over old car titles.. A couple who's matching car has long since been junked... and divorce papers... Both his and mine and we could maybe need those one day so back they go.. together this time though in one file marked old documents. I did whittle those files all down to one. So much room in that drawer now I was able to move some other things into it.. It's hard really to let some things be shredded when you have held on to them so long.. But those things will make great mulch and after all. I'm Cleaning OUT the house!

Beginning in My own room and Bathroom I cleaned cabinets and dressers and closets and shelves. I looked at everything in old jewelry boxes and tin cans and baskets. I emptied the suitcases from under the beds. Any clothes that I hadn't worn in the last 6 months went to the "outta here" pile. I tried to get rid of about half of what was on every shelf. About a third of the way through I got to thinking that somebody somewhere might could use some of my old junk.. I sent for boxes.. I was now cleaning out the house and planning for a yard sale... Now I had three things going on.. Cleaning out the house.. bagging all the pure trash and washing and dusting anything that might be worth a quarter. I had linens and blankets we never use any more. I had ear rings and bracelets and candles too. I swept the dirt from every crack and crevice and dusted with lemon scented polish. I spent well over a week in mine and Dave's two personal rooms.

Moving on to the Kitchen and dining rooms I have finally declared myself to be half done. It has not been an easy task. I have way to much stuff. I have way to many collections. Tea sets and shot glasses and dolls. Lots and lots and lots of dolls. Bottles and antique Coffee pots and books. Many, many Books! But I have surprised myself. I have thought over a few things; debating with myself; but in the end I really have got rid of a lot of things that were just taking up space here.

I have boxes and Boxes of stuff to sell and bags and bags of trash. I have lots more room on the shelves and even an empty drawer or two in a dresser here and there. I still have baby clothes and cigars and a couple of pairs of tiny shoes. They get to stay this time.. They have their own space for now. Trophy's and drawings have a new space as well. All those "pre-us" photo's have been divided and one day will be dispersed between the five children. Each of them have stuff here that I don't have the heart to throw away. I really hope that one day I can pass some of this clutter on to them. And hopefully I will then smile and think of all the years I held it in trust for them only to see it tossed away the very first time they Clean Out their House!!

Material things can be important because of who they belonged to or what they represent but in the end they are just things. My loving memories of our lives here will always be with me even if I threw away everything. I will enjoy the new look of a little less stuff. And if I know me..... I'll find some new stuff to save. Mason's school work already hangs on my fridge and he has toys and games here too. I love to make doll clothes for Maya so that requires thread and crochet hooks and new dolls that match the ones she has.. I think I saved a drawer each for their stuff.

I have three rooms to go. I have declared this to be a no cleaning week. I am looking the remaining rooms over each day. I am deciding what I can live with out. I am imagining being done. I am seeing things in a new light. I can imagine them sitting on the table outside with a quarter price tag and not shudder. I am on a roll now.. I AM Cleaning OUT the house!

Live simply when you can. Remember that things are never More important than the memories they represent .. Have a great Day!
Patsy

June 3rd is Egg Day!

"Kill not the goose that lays the golden eggs." ~English Proverb~



"It may be the cock that crows, But it is the hen that lays the eggs."
~Margaret Thatcher~


"An egg is always an adventure; the next one may be different."
~Oscar Wilde~


Today is Egg day! I really like eggs. I love them scrambled plain or with cheese.
I like them in Omelets or poached. I will have to say though that I like them fried the best. Even though I love Dave's fried eggs and always enjoy them when he cooks them for us I still have to say; My daddy cooked the best eggs of any person I ever knew. His were perfectly fried and crispy in a certain way that I have never been able to replicate. When I was a teenager I would often get up early when I heard him cooking his own breakfast and Hurry to the kitchen and eat with him. He went to work very early and always ate breakfast. Daddy and I would talk as we ate fried eggs and grits and sometimes a sliced tomato or Cantaloupe. Sometimes he would have a slice of bacon or a sausage, But meat wasn't always a part of his breakfast. He would seem to know someone was going to join him as he always had enough for more than just himself. He would always be chipper in the mornings too. He used to say it's best to rise and shine; But if you just can't shine you have to rise anyway! I would laugh at him every time he said that and one morning he told me that when I was older I would understand that his comment had little to do with getting up in the morning.
I think he meant that sometimes we will have to rise to the occasion and many times do things we would rather not. I have had to rise many times in my life and each time I am able to rise with at least a little shine because I remember Daddy telling me that it was always best. He lured me with his eggs but he left me with memories.



One other memory I have to share about eggs is about once when someone told Martha at school that you could not squeeze and egg and make it break. Me and Reuben were sure that they were telling her a tale. We set out to prove that we could break the egg. We waited till Mama and Daddy were out of the house. They were still kids... I was grown.. I tried first....I squeezed and squeezed! With all I had in me I squeezed that egg. I opened my hand and there it was perfect as ever. Martha tried. Still a perfect egg. Then Reuben took the egg into his hand. He slowly closed his hand around the egg and squinched up his face and squish went the shell as egg shot out and covered the ceiling in the dining room. Yolk dripped from his hand and puddled on the floor as he started dancing around and singing.... "I did it, I did it, I did it....then suddenly his left foot hit that yolk puddle and up went his feet and he was suspended for just a split second upside down as if he were walking on the ceiling; then with a crash and a boom he hit the floor. Me and Martha scared he was dead and both about to cry, screaming his name.... finally he spoke and all he would say was did I break my glasses? over and over.. I handed him his UN-broken glasses and sat down beside him and Martha fell on top of us as we three laughed and laughed while egg dripped down on us from above. Needless to say by the time Mama and Daddy got home the house showed no signs of the egg game or the wild ceiling walking dance.


Sometimes Life seems hard. But it's the little moments that you seem to remember the most. Yes we recall the hard times too. But each laugh shared with a sibling or a Parent is important. Try to find a moment today to laugh with a friend or family member. Try to remember that if you must rise, try to rise with a shine! Have a good day!
Patsy

Under the Quilt

Love if you have it you don't need anything else, and if you don't have it, it doesn't matter what else you have. ~ J.M. Barrie~

While we may be of different faiths, we have a strong sense of faith, family, community. We hold the values of freedom and human rights very high and I think that those are all a part of a very strong quilt that binds us together. ~Robert Menendez~


My first memory of My Grandma is of her legs and feet. We would go to her big old house every Saturday night just before it got dark outside.Daddy and the Uncles would be outside doing things around the place. I was never quiet clear on the mysteries of what they did. I know they had pigeons out there because we could see them fly sometimes. I also know they had hunting dogs in big pens. Us kids weren't allowed to befriend the hunting dogs. Uncle Neal said it would mess them up. My Mom and Grandma and the aunts would gather around in the hot, wood heated, Kitchen and soon they would lower the frames from the ceiling and they would quilt. They Made a few quilts every year each of them sewing dainty little stitches as they sat and talked. No one in Our Family would be cold.

Us little kids would all be sent to play on the floor beneath the quilt where they could know where we were. There was no room for us to play anywhere else. Sometimes My cousins would be there and we might play Barbies or sometimes Go fish cards. Sheron even had a checker board and some drink bottle caps that we could play with when she was there. The Older children always gathered on the back porch. There were cousins of all ages too But you had to be what was considered a big kid to get out from under the watchful eyes of the women. By the time I was a big kid the gatherings had stopped but I'll always remember those wonderful days. The days when I was sent to play under the quilt!

I loved my cousins a lot. Sheron was my favorite. She still is in a lot of ways. She is just a tiny bit older than me. Not quiet a year But she was a lot of fun. I loved Playing under the quilt with Sheron. But Most of all I loved it when the cousins didn't come.

When The cousins didn't come I would lay quietly under the quilt tent by myself and listen to the grown ups talk. I couldn't see their mouths but I could see their feet. My Grandma would pat her foot up and down as she told some tidbit of rumor to my Mom. Sometimes if she was trying to make a strong argument for something she would even stomp her foot up and down. My Mom didn't move her feet too much. She mostly kept her feet crossed and still. But Every once in a while she would uncross her feet and slide them back and forth over the hardwood floors or raise and wiggle her toes. Aunt Rose had pink painted toe nails. Aunt Lucy always wore white socks. Aunt Frankie didn't quilt. She wore loafers and stood propped by the counter sometimes. But most of the time she would go outside with Her husband Emmett. Or on the porch and look at a magazine.


Grandma always wore the same thing on her feet. Plain brown slip-on shoes, over stockings that came just above her knee. She wore plain brown garters around those to hold them in the exact spot that she wanted them. I would watch her feet and listen to her tell the most wonderful stories. Sometimes I would imagine her feet dancing or running although I never saw her do either. She loved to walk and I walked with her many times. I would have liked to see her run though.

I learned so many things laying under the quilt surrounded by feet. I learned that the preachers widow was courting the school teacher when I was too little to care about courting. I learned that Babies take forty full moons to come long before I knew what a full moon was or where babies were coming from. I learned that homing pigeons could be trained to bring and carry important messages or secrets. And that wearing red to a wedding or a funeral meant bad luck to the wearer. I learned recipes for foods that I have never cooked and I learned that Women who love each other share a special bond. A bond that brings them to share their thoughts and opinions with each other without fear of shame or censure. Their words to each other have a flow that becomes over time almost poetic. And that their feet often keep time to the music that only their hearts can hear! Let your heart music Move your feet. If you have family or friends in your life share with them in a relaxed place. Be open with them. If you have children, let them learn form seeing you interact with your family and friends. Let them learn about what moves your feet and your heart.
Love Many! Trust a few! Harm None!
Have a great Day!
Patsy

New Shoes

"If the shoe doesn't fit, must we change the foot?"- Gloria Steinem

Yesterday I talked about Friday before Easter when I was a child.. Good Friday.. This morning I will talk about Saturday before Easter in our Childhood home. Especially our Easter shoes.
Saturday before Easter Sunday was always a busy day. There were heads to be washed and Half of those had to have bobby pin curls. The new clothes that Mama and Daddy had been paying on for a few weeks would have been already picked up from lay- away and They would be hanging on doorways awaiting Mama's final inspection. We would not have a wrinkle or smudge between us Come Easter Morning when we filled an entire pew at Our country Church.
We always ; with out fail ; got new shoes twice every year in our family. We got Loafers every year when school started. We got those in groups of two each Friday for several weeks before School started for the fall. We didn't get other shoes very often. Maybe a pair of flip flops for the beach or Camping. We did get sneakers once we were old enough to have Physical education in school. That was around the sixth grade for me. But Every year on the Saturday before Easter we would all get new shoes. Dress shoes that would be worn for Church and to school for special days like chorus concerts or maybe an induction into a club or something. You didn't wear dress shoes every day.. you would mess them up. Scuff them or scratch them. Patent Leather was easy to ruin. And if you scratched them you would have to rub them with Cold Biscuits. Naturally you didn't dare ruin your Dress shoes.
One Main street there was a shoe store. Not like today's shoe stores really Because back then there was a person there to fit your feet and try shoes on you till he was satisfied that they fit. Then you would be sent to walk up and down the aisle so that Him and Daddy could make sure they weren't rubbing and would never cause a blister. Then it was back to the stool so Mr. Haines could mash on the toe to show how much growing room you had. Growing room was important because you had to wear those shoes for a whole year. They had to fit for that whole year. you just had to have growing room at the toe. One Easter Saturday in Particular I remember that we had all went to town. We were all lined up trying to pick out shoes for Mr. Haines to fit for us. Mary always had a very Narrow foot and so she was hard to fit. I on the other hand Had a perfectly normal foot and was always easy to fit. I had picked out a shoe that even I knew would never fit.. I was hoping though. Hoping that Mr. Haines Could do magic and make it fit me. I didn't like the shoe any more than I did any of the others but This pair had a doll to come with them and I sure wanted her. She was a doll from some country far away and I loved all dolls.
When It was my turn I stepped up to the stool and sat down calmly straightening my skirt and smiling my best smile at Mr. Haines as I lifted my foot to the fitting step in front of me. Then I handed him the tiny shoe I had chosen. He smiled and shook his head no as he got up and went to the shelf behind him. He came back with a pair that naturally were a perfect fit. He was very good at his Job. I was about to raise a fuss but just then I caught Daddy's eye and knew a fuss wasn't a very good idea right then. I took my unwanted shoes and moved to stand over by the door waiting as the others were fitted. I watched people through the glass as they walked up and down the short Main street. I was almost over the whole doll issue till I saw Mary coming with her shoes. She had the shoes I wanted. She, who I was certain, was way too old for dolls, had my shoes and my doll. I was furious. I was mad with Mr Haines because he had tricked me . I was certain that he had. I was mad with Mary because I knew she had chosen my shoes for spite. I was just mad at the world. I was even mad with my feet for being too big to get me a doll. I pouted as daddy paid for all those shoes. I pouted all the way home in the car squeezed in between Frank and Mary in the back seat. I pouted all the way to my bedroom where I tossed the shoe box to the bed and flopped down beside it. Finally I heard Mama coming toward my room. She would be handing out the socks that she had bought at the dime store while daddy was getting us all fitted for New Easter shoes. She would have socks to match every one's clothes and she would look at everything together to make sure we were all ready for the Easter Morning Services. I lifted my Shoe box lid and There laying in the box along with My black, patent leather, Sunday shoes was a little doll from Spain. Mr. Haines had surprised me. Mr. Haines had realized that I knew the shoe wouldn't fit. But he had given me a doll anyway. Mama opened my door to a smiling happy girl and was proud that they had again got all of us pulled together one more time.. Just in time for Easter. And the next morning we would all eight be
Pictures of perfection sitting on our pew in our new Easter clothes and Our New Good shoes.
Patsy

My Daffodils!

Where flowers bloom so does hope.- Lady Bird Johnson

The daffodils are blooming and I love this time of year. This time of year always makes me think of so many wonderful things. With the first bloom of them I always think of Grandma Black and how even though she lived very simply she touched many lives through her words of wisdom. Sheron and I often remember to each other some off her greatest words. She used to give us warnings about how things could bring about other things. One I will always remember is. "All right NOW! Leaving a rocking chair rocking is a sign your are gonna get a whooping!" I got a few whoopings for that. Because if you jump out and leave it rocking it might; and in my case did; break something at Grandma Morris’s house! At Grandma Blacks little house in the woods she had daffodils planted down each side of the little path to the door. She didn’t have a sidewalk or anything elegant like that. Not even a few stepping stones, But still she planted flowers along her path. She had other flowers as well but I always remember her best from the daffodils. I carried her daffodils that me and Anthony picked from the grave yard near our house once when she was in the hospital. She smiled at us and said." They always bloom so much prettier in the grave yard!" She died shortly after that while they were still blooming. I walked through those woods near where her house was a few weeks ago. I snuck in there by way of the old railroad bed. Just to see if the flowers were still there. They were and are in full bloom! They also remind me of Nelma. My Mother-in-law. Mom to my first Husband Gaylon. We loved each other, Nelma and I. It had nothing to do with him. We loved each other aside from him. We would embroidery together during the long days we spent together with nothing else to do. She would tell me tales of the old ones long gone from her family. Tales about her Papa were very important to her. Everyone used to say Cooper looked like Papa. She would have loved him and Emily. I like to think that she held them in Heaven before they were sent to me. She loved Anthony to death. But she Loved to tie him up too. She found it funny to see him try and get out of it. I think that was the only time she made me really mad. But we got over that moment too. I would go for walks and bring back some daffodils when they were in bloom. She would smell them over and over and then put the whole bunch in a jar and carry it straight to her room. I would say "Hey Share Those Please!" and she would just say "Hmmmmp" If I wanted some for the table I’d have to go and pick more. They also remind me of Mr. Lennie Still. He didn’t have a single blade of grass in his yard. He’d get out there every morning and sweep the yard clean chopping up anything green with the hoe. He didn’t have other flowers in his yard either. But he did have a few scattered clumps of daffodils. He said they let him know that spring was coming. He told me that they remind us of a promise from God that there is a season for everything under the sun. He said that they represented renewal to him. He said we should all have a few planted to remind us. He said "Man needs to be renewed every so often. It keeps a man Humble!" Mr. Lennie was a good man. A Humble man. They remind me of a time that me and Trudy and Anthony were going old house plundering. We wanted to check out an old log cabin someone had told Trudy about way down in the woods. Cooper was reaching for a bloom and was suddenly sliding away. Anthony jumped and grabbed him and was yelling for me to come help him hold on. They both almost fell into a well. If Anthony hadn’t been watching Cooper would have surely fell in. There was no marking of any kind there to warn people of the well. Just Daffodils planted all around it. I can still hear Cooper yelling "Help me bubba!" just as Anthony’s almost a man’s hand closed over Coopers tiny little one. And me grabbing Anthony by the foot as he started to slip as well. But we all Hung on. I think I hugged them fifty times each when we were all safe on solid ground again. Me and Trudy both crying with relief. We all made it out of those woods. We even got a bucket that was hanging way down deep in that well. Anthony was determined to pull up whatever was tied to the rotting old rope. I kept the bucket to remind me of how close we came that day to loosing something precious. I think that was our last house plundering trip. I think that scare ended the house plundering for me and Trudy! It’s funny how something as simple as a blooming yellow flower can bring so many wonderful memories to your mind. How just the smell can invoke such loving thoughts of family and friends already gone. How seeing the blooms all over this yard can remind us of so many things. I didn’t plant them here. They just were. If I had to guess I’d say Miss Ruthie planted them or maybe someone even before she lived here. I give thanks to who ever planted them here. Thanks for the blooms and thanks for the memories.
Patsy