November 20, 1949

This date always stands out to me.  it is the date that my parents got married...they eloped while in college at UGA....
Here is a picture of them taken at their wedding reception ....I love to look at the picture..the tablecloth my Grandmother used on this table now lives with me..one of my cherished family heirlooms...

they were so young here......and had a lot of life to live before it was over ..they were married for over 50 years..today would have been 63 years...wow that's a long time........
funny thing...Me and Bryan eloped from the very same town 48 years later....I am telling ya, generational ties are strong things...they go on even when we think they don't..I like the tie here...my parents and us...we share the same kinda of wedding....an elopement.....and from the same town..

Here are my parents as they started out their life together 63 years ago today...

Mama and Daddy

Happy Anniversary Mama and Daddy......I am glad you got together and stayed together....the older I get, the more I understand how difficult it must have been to stay married for your whole lifetime but how much it meant to me that you did it....thank you....I just wish my Mama was still here so she could read my blog.....she would have loved it...

thank you for stopping by and sharing in this post...I hope to see you again soon...

Simple Food

In case there is someone out there that doesn't know about cucumber sandwiches, I thought I would give you a little help so you can make one and not miss out on one of the most wonderful joys of having a home garden....how is that for a run on sentence??  LOL  I have been eating seasonal and local all of my life...way before it was a hip and cool thing to do...one of the main vegetables I wait all winter for are cucumbers from the garden.  there is just nothing like the taste of a cucumber picked and eaten within minutes...especially if it is on a cucumber sandwich.  I grew up in a little south Georgia town during the 50's and 60's..one of the memories I have is that Mama had bridge club EVERY Tuesday afternoon at 2:00 p.m...When it was her time to host it, no big deal for Miss Faye..she had us children to make the party food for the ladies...we always made cucumber sandwiches for them....it is just a southern way of life to eat them in the summer.....so I am still eating them and loving them and relishing the freshness of homegrown produce..when we cleaned out Mama's refrigerator during the funeral days, there was her cucumber mixture in there....just waiting for her next sandwich...

So, here is the way to make a very simple and good lunch this summer....

first you pick the cucumber

here are the ingredients and YES Dukes is the best to use..

make sure there is enough to taste!

then slice and sprinkle with garlic salt, liberally

then, it MUST be cut on the diagonal to taste right..LOL

I hope you enjoyed this little visit to South Georgia in the summertime...it was a good time growing up down there...lots of wonderful memories..

thank you for reading along today...maybe you can just find a cucumber or two to make a sandwich from..one more thing,  it makes them even better if you spread cream cheese on one of the slices of bread..decadent....who needs chocolate when you can have these little sandwiches????

just one daylily picture for today..

gift from Daddy

Summertime once again.......

I mentioned this song yesterday in my blog and then could not get it out of my head...even dreamed about it last night.  I guess that is what a good song is all about...so I wanted to share it with you too...youtube is a wealth of songs...
My Mama played the piano a lot and she loved show tunes so I heard these songs a lot while growing up and I have always loved them....I even have a record player and way too many records to ever listen to them all....
I hope you enjoy this song this morning.....
here are the lyrics in case you are not familiar with them....

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

One of these mornings
You're going to rise up singing
Then you'll spread your wings
And you'll take to the sky

But till that morning
There's a'nothing can harm you
With daddy and mamma standing by

Summertime,
And the livin' is easy
Fish are jumpin'
And the cotton is high

Your daddy's rich
And your mamma's good lookin'
So hush little baby
Don't you cry

Ski Chalet

 and just one more thing.....my daylily Ski Chalet bloomed this morning for the very first time...I have always wanted this daylily and Daddy gave it to me in January of this year.....thank you Daddy...it is beautiful

as always thank you so much for visiting my blog this morning..I appreciate EVERY one of you...

Summertime and the living is easy.....

Last night's supper was mostly vegetables from our garden..this is when the sweat and sore muscles start to pay off..I really am looking forward to cucumbers and tomatoes..can't believe I FORGOT to cook the potatoes . and of course, I did not grow the chicken..YET.....

Our table is mostly set with two place settings these days.  the empty nest has it's benefits ....I like to use real china and real napkins and always have done this....and for all of it to match...so we are into using all the different dishes that are appropriate for summer...but I NEED to get out the sewing machine and make some new napkins....we'll see...if that happens....
here is our table from last night....simply supper for two...

thrift store dishes..Wedgwood's  Napoleon Ivy

supper

and this morning the daylilies are still putting on a show..but they are begging for rain..and so am I..watering gets to be a full time job because I water by hand and try not to use sprinklers to conserve water...some daylily buds are shriveling and dropping off but most of them are looking good...I hope you enjoy what I found this morning...

mama's seedling

tiny red daylily  rebloomer

gift from Daddy

another gift from Daddy

Humdinger..outstanding bloomer..another gift from Daddy

fresh flowers for summer date night

Tonight is our regular date night so I get to eat out...and watch a movie and get my Bryan all to myself..  :-)

I am so glad you stopped by...thank you for reading my words and looking into my world..it really is a good world to live in....just find you some flowers to stop and smell......until next time..

Bloom Where you Are Planted..

The daylily watch is really beginning....  I am just in love with these flowers.  it speaks to me of my heritage and my destiny.  I stood by both of my grandmothers and looked at these flowers..I  stood by both of my parents and looked at them also...now I stand by all  of my children and look at these flowers, Betsy and Jon...now I am going to stand by my grandsons this year and look at them.....I am the third generation of flower growers so far. and there are 2 more after me..  I am sure the women before my Grandmothers loved flowers too.  it is just in my blood (line)..and I intend to pass it on...my son Jon is already proving to be quite the gardener..I am so happy to see him enjoying it......he is really talented...and my daughter's sons and husband are gardeners for sure...wow..there really is something to this bloodline thing...my goal is passing on the good and getting rid of the bad....kinda like cultivating the flowers and pulling up the weeds..

Enjoy with me this morning's pictures...get out and find some flowers to look at up close..they are just beautiful..

my brother gave this to me, so it is 'my Dana' when I look at it.

even Maggie and Bo like them

Mi

looking for rain

beginning of a dream of a patio surrounded by gardenias

Mama's seedling

anticipating open lilies

Miss Huff's first blooms

Thank you for looking at the daylilies with me this morning....I never get tired of the beauty of flowers and sharing them with you....wonder if I can find some more dirt to make another flowerbed in........until next time..

Remembering Mama

Mama

Today is my beautiful Mama's birthday..she would have been 81 years old.....but I will always remember her as a much younger woman because she died young....she had  just turned 73 years old when she was killed in a tragic car accident that instantly took her life and left my Daddy virtually unharmed except for a few bruises. He literally walked away from the fatal wreck. I will always believe that she was stolen away from this life before it was her time to go. she still had a lot of life to live and a lot of life to pass on to us.....It was because of an accident that she is no longer here.....I don't know if I will ever get over this loss...the pain is not as acute as it used to be but it is still grief, just not the gripping, cannot get away from it kind.......I can think about her without tears now.....there are good memories to focus on.. But I still miss her terribly sometimes...hardly a day goes by that I do not think of her and sometimes I really, really would like to talk things over with her just one more time..I could talk to her about anybody and she would keep it to herself and still love me. :-)

There is not much else like a mama's love... she and I had a rough and rocky relationship for years and years but had come to a place of real understanding and acceptance about 2 years before her death. I am most thankful for those 2 years, as they erased most of the pain of the decades before then.....and as silly as it sounds the Lord used a movie to speak to me, loudly.....to help me see that she was a woman just like me...and I was a woman just like her..... that bond can never be broken and her love for me and who she was will be passed on to my grandchildren...

Will and Mac often point to a picture of her and I tell them over and over who that is...my Mama.. I certainly see her showing up already in my grandsons....they love the dirt..the oldest one is a sure gardener in the making...she would be proud....there is already someone who will continue to grow daylilies.....I know she is smiling about that......

This is just one of the lilies she hybridized and now it grows in my yard....she had a good eye for this....it is one of my treasures....and will be passed along to future generations...it's just what we do..pass along flowers..LOL

Well, you have heard a little of my story involving my Mama....and if you have a mama or you are a mama, your job is very important....your mama is human just like you are.....even if you don't get along now, there is still hope..because how can a mama reject her own child?  it will not always be....I am so very thankful for the last 2 years of Mama's life..we made amends and when she died, I had NO REGRETS...that is a wonderful gift she left me....Peace about our relationship....so never give up...don't lose who you are but also never close the door completely..there might be a miracle around the next bend...there was for me....

So I remember the good things and do not dwell on the bad..I do wish she had lived longer but she didn't and I have come to have peace about that....

Here is a clip from that life changing movie for me....if you are having ANY trouble in your mama relationship, please watch this clip.....it will speak to you..and then watch the movie....it has lots of healing in the story.......




one of my favorite lines in the movie is  Daddy, did you get loved enough?
and he says my question to you is Did YOU get loved enough?

after it was all said and done.....I think I got loved enough.........

Our Green Table

On St Patrick's Day, we had a table set with green patterned china and some of my collection of green glass. I have collected it for a long time and had so much fun pulling it out and washing it and deciding which pieces to put on the table....thank you Diane for the inspiration........



Silverplate is another of my collections and I just got out the pieces that had flowers on them and mixed and matched the place settings...the knives were my Grandmother's that I got on my recent trip to Daddy's...

This is one of my favorite pieces of green glass..this 4-H clover.  my husband got it during his many years as a 4-H'er....

And finally, the meal.....we had New England boiled dinner. corned beef, cabbage, carrots, and potatoes...
I started cooking this meal a LONG time ago when I found it in my Betty Crocker cookbook.....it is still a good meal ....a keeper..and just right for St Patrick's Day....or anytime during spring......the table is still set with green this morning  but it is time to change it again........I hear bunnies in the near future.....I am so glad it is spring again.....seems like this was a really long winter......

But, just as the name of our home proclaims...Winter is Past and spring is here...
so from Winterpast to your little piece of this world..thank you so much for reading these words...and get outside today and enjoy the life you have been given..just BREATHE!!!!!

Spring green

My sweet husband surprised me with this garden art yesterday..I can't wait to use it in my garden....

my new best friend

secret garden discovered under layers and layers of neglect and brush..

heirloom bulbs

third generation of gardens with this sign..my granddaddy, my daddy, now me

peony shoots

tea olive..if you don't have one, get one..

koi ponds