Rhyme Ice & Snow

A beautiful winter morning in Waynesville, NC.  I love how the rhyme ice sparkles in January!  And I especially love my Grandaughter, Becca, in the middle of it!

Keeping Bees

If you are a bee lover or just a honey user you will LOVE "Keeping Bees" by Ashley English.  Keeping Bees takes you from the history of bees, to housing bees, equipment needed, feeding them, plus a year at a glance.  It also talks about health and wellness of the colony and many things you can make with the honey harvest.  (The Honey Ice Cream recipe sounds amazing!)  I was so impressed with the pictures and helpful information that once I picked the book up, I couldn't put it down!

Although I loved many things about the book, my favorite was her "Profile of a Beekeeper".  Those sections throughout the book introduced me to many types of beekeepers across the country and the world! 

Ashley English and her husband live in Candler, North Carolina in the heart of the southern Appalachians.  Check out her blog @ small-measure.blogspot.com.

Click here, to purchase this book on Amazon!

Dream Machine for Veteran's

This Veteran's Day, this may not be your idea of a dream machine but for our Veterans it may just be.  Dream Machine's have been popping up here and there ever since 2010.  Did you ever think that discarding your trash the right way could ever make someone else's life worth living?

I copied this from Dream Machine's Facebook in the "About Me" section: "In addition to being kind to the environment, each time you recycle in a Dream Machine you are taking action to help support a disabled U.S. veteran – the more bottles and cans people recycle in a Dream Machine, the more support PepsiCo will provide to the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, a national program offering post-9/11 disabled U.S. veterans free education and experiential training in entrepreneurship and small business management. On top of that, the intelligent kiosks are computerized receptacles that include a personal reward system, operated by Greenopolis, that allows consumers to earn points for every bottle and can they recycle, redeemable for local discounts and coupons on entertainment, dining and travel at greenopolis.com."

If you are interested check out: http://www.facebook.com/dreammachine.  You can click the "Locator" button, to the right of  "Likes" and another page opens so you can search for your nearest Dream Machine.  Awesome?  I think so!! 

Spooky Storytelling

Storytelling is not uncommon in the Appalachians.  You could ask most Appalachian people and they would be able to share a story passed down one or two generations.  There are stories of haints (New word for the younger readers, look it up!), mad dogs and panthers.  The back stories had usually come from a personal experience and they leave the listeners with creepy feelings. 

There are many professional storytellers that travel all around to share their captivating stories.  In "Our State: North Carolina" magazine they have featured many Storytellers that travel around.  Some of them include Willa Brigham, Philip Gerard, Woody Durham, and Jeanne Robertson.  These professionals have won Emmy's for their abilities in storytelling!  I would love sit in on their stories. 

Considering it is such a good day for storytelling, I figured it would be a good day to share a couple stories from Foxfire: Number 9.

"Ruth Holcomb: A long time ago, these people sent for this lady who was a midwife.  The only way she had of getting to their house was to ride a horse.  This panther came up behind her when she was riding to their house.  She took off her scarf and throwed it down at him, trying to scare him off.  It tore that scarf up and kept on coming.  She kept her horse a-running and kept pulling off her clothes piece by piece, trying to stop that panther.  When she reached the house where she was going she almost had all her clothes off and the panther was still right behind her."

"Jennie Arrowood:  They said there was somebody that used to go across to Shooting Creek-- across that mountain over there-- and play the fiddle and make music for people. They said one time a painter (panther) got after him and he climbed a tree, and the only way he ever got down was to play the fiddle and scare it away.  If he quite playing, it'd go to climbing the tree towards him!"

If you get a chance to listen to some stories past down from generations long ago, don't pass up the chance!  You might just find yourself experiencing the best entertainment you've encountered in a long time!

Stuffed 'Possum'

Like any other Mammy, my most favorite treasures are my grandchildren.  Heath is my 3rd grandchild.  He was given a stuffed opossum by his Nana (my mom, Nancy).  Now this long tailed creature has become his favorite tag along.  Opossum was dragged by his tail to just about every event in the day; To church, to bed, to the table, and even the restaurant.  And when we lose it, we go opossum huntin'. Although hideous in theory, this has been quite an adorable sight to see.


While we played he learned a little game-- Maybe you can share it with one of your little ones. 

It goes like this:

Person 1: "I found an ole' dead opossum in the road.  I one it."
Person 2: "I two it"
Person 1: "I three it"
Person 2: "I four it"
Person 1: "I five it"
Person 2: "I six it"
Person 1: " I seven it"
Person 2: "I eight it"
Person 1: "Ooh! You ate it!"

The smallest things can bring the biggest smiles. :)

Going Berry Picking?

As July 4th approaches, luscious berries begin ripening across the mountains.  You don't have to look far because blackberry & raspberry bushes can be seen along most roads and biways.  You can pick a few as you are walking in your neighborhood but if you want to pick enough for a cobbler or jam you better get prepared!

Here are a few tips for a happy picking day...

1. Know your area, make sure to find an area with a high concentration of berries.
2. Its going to be hot!  Early morning 6-9 AM or after 5 PM won't be as warm.
3. Get prepared!
• Overalls or jeans.
• Long sleave shirt to protect you from thorns.
• Boots or tennis shoes - for protection and good footing.
• 1 or 2 buckets with handles to carry the berries in.
• A belt to put around your waste that will also be used to carry the buckets.  If you have two hands to pick berries with, you are going to accumulate a lot more, a lot faster!
• BUG SPRAY- You are going to need this to try and devert the chiggers away from you.  Chiggers love berry bushes and to make you miserable.
• A rag dampened with kerosene- this will also make the chiggers want to avoid you. Just tie it to your belt.  Hey, anything is better than frantically itching for a week.

Picking a gallon of berries can take only 1-2 hours depending on your location and the availability of the berries. 

Take a friend!  It will be a rewarding adventure for you both.

The Help

 

I'm sure that many of you have either read  "The Help" or have seen the movie.  If you haven't, it is a multidimensional story about the black women who cared for the white women's children in the mid 1900's in Jackson, Mississippi.  It is an endearing and thought provoking movie that makes you laugh one minute and cry the next.  If you haven't seen it, I would recommend it.

I would also like to introduce you to an amazing person in our lives. Adaleene Gahagen!  She was born in August 1 in 1928, the 3rd child of 4.  She has been a typical Appalachian woman.  She has worked hard, raised a family of five, and been a wonderful influence to all her Grandchildren.  She is self reliant, independent, christian, neighborly, hospitable, patriotic, and has been a light in our lives for about 20+ years. 

Adalene & Lydia at Lydia's Graduation Party

I met Adaleene whem I was working as a home health nurse and was caring for her mother, Ms. Emma.  During that time I was expecting my last child, Lydia.  One day when I walked in to their home to make my Home Health visit, Adaleene and her sister, Anna Mae, were cooking some collard greens.  I told them they smelled SO good and they insisted I eat some because "A pregnant woman should get what she wants to eat."

Some time later, I took maternity leave for a couple of months after Lydia arrived.  I had been looking for some type of sitter for her and couldn't find anyone.  On my last straw  I prayed: God, if you want me to return to work you are going to have to supply a sitter for me.  Within 2 hours later, Adaleene called.

To make a long story short, God blessed our family with Adalene for about 20 years.  She came to our house regularly to care for our 3 children, do laundry, cleaning, and cooking.  I could go on and on.

Adaleene (left) & Anna Mae (right)

She worked very hard and was so happy, dependable, and efficient.  She became a part of our hearts and our family.  She still is today!

Adalene was our "Help" and what a support, inspiration, example, blessing, and a "Help" she has been.

Do you have anyone some special in your life who has been a "Help" to you and yours?  If so, tell us about it in the comments!