Early Beginnings

I'd like to tell you a little more about my family during the time that I was about 5 and 6 years old. We moved from Knoxville to a place we called 'Possum Valley. It was located in the area known as Concord, TN. When we moved to 'Possum Valley, we moved into a log cabin belonging to my dad's mother. It was a two room cabin, with a loft. Some of my earliest memories come from those years.

The walls of the cabin were papered with old newspapers to keep the cold air out. There were 8 people who lived in that cabin, and sometimes more. (Believe it or not!)

My oldest brother, Bill, got married when we were living in that cabin, and brought his bride, my oldest sister-in-law, Mae, to live there. To say that it was crowded would be an understatement. But we had some wonderful times in that cabin. My mom loved to tell ghost stories to us when the wind would be blowing outside and we would gather around her near the fireplace and plead with her to "tell us another one." Although my brother, Bill, has been gone for 22 years, his wife, Mae, is still with us, and we often talk about those days in 'Possum Valley.

We younger children entertained ourselves by reading the comics that were plastered to the walls. My youngest brother, John, was still in diapers when we moved there.

There were two churches that we lived close to. We would go to Sunday School in one of them, and walk down the road to the other one for Sunday School because they began a little bit after the first one let out. (At least that is what my brother and sister told me). I remember some of the walking but not too much about the sunday school classes.

We walked to school which was called Boyd School and was a one-room schoolhouse, divided by a partition into two classrooms. A lady teacher taught the primer through 3rd grades, and the principal, who was a man, taught the other 5 classes. That was the school that my sister had to repeat 8th grade so that she could watch over me in the primer and first grade. The primer was taught the first half of the year, and then we were promoted to first grade for the second half of the year.

We didn't take our lunch to school, but my mom sent our lunch by my next to oldest brother, Ralph, in a lard bucket. It was always hot, usually beans and cornbread or something like that. My sister, Margaret, my brother, Hugh, and I were the ones that went to school down there. My brother and I talk about it sometimes and laugh about some of the things that happened.

One of the things I remember was one day when it was cold outside, some other kids and I were out by the well house behind the school, and I decided to imitate the principal who had a mustache. I pulled some of the strings out of the top of my tobaggan and had them scrunched up between my upper lip and my nose and was talking like I was him. He came around the corner of the school and said something like "what is going on around here?" Yep, I was being the center of attention and having a blast. But he scared the living daylights out of me for a few minutes. I am afraid I have always been an incorrigable little show-off, never being shy. Must be why I took up storytelling later. I absolutely love meeting people and making new friends.

Another thing I remember was being afraid to go outside to go to the outhouse (outdoor toilet for those of you who are uninitiated) because I could hear a dog barking. I was deathly afraid of dogs, and so I peed in my panties, and had to dry them on the stove that heated the schoolroom.

I learned to read while going to the little one -room school house in 'Possum Valley.

It was a wonderful thing to learn, and I have never regretted learning that skill. I must read 2 or 3 books a week even yet. I don't know what I would do if I ever got to where I could no longer read.

I am posting a school picture of myself and my brother, Hugh, so you can get an idea of what we looked like going to school. I remember when I had my picture made when I was in Primer. I was scared half to death, because it was a new experience for me.

I remember, too, getting my vaccination to go to school. Someone held my face in their bosom while I got my arm scratched with the needle. I think it must have been someone that was assisting the county nurse. I had it done at the school house.

Well, that is about it for today, since I don't want to wear out those who may read my blog. Each memory I write about dislodges other memories, and I just have a difficult time turning it off here. More later.

May each of you have a good evening and may God's grace and love rest on each of you. Farewell for today from Blabbin' Grammy!

Summertime Easy Living

We have a wonderful front porch where we can sit in our rocking chairs. It is a wonderful place to rest and enjoy the cool breezes that blow across the porch.

The flowers that you see on the front porch take up some of my time, but not a lot of it. I do have to keep them watered. I have a little talk with my flowers when I pot them or plant them in the ground. I tell them, "Okay, it is up to you now. Do the best you can, I will keep you watered and see that you have sunshine. If you live, you live, if you die, you die, it is up to you now." My friends laugh when I tell them this, but it does seem to work. Ha.

We had a really nice service this morning in our church, and then went to lunch with Mark and Allie, and came back here to our porch and sat enjoying the sound of the birds in the trees, the breeze that blew softly and made the wind chimes tinkle that were hanging on the top edge of the porch. It is a very pleasant way to spend a summer afternoon. A sugar free ice cream bar made it absolutely perfect.

The roses in my front yard should soon be blooming again. Unfortunately, I missed their June blooming, because they bloomed while we were in Texas visiting our family there. Lavender has been blooming in the yard, thanks to someone's planting it before we moved here. The wildflowers in my flower bed are blooming as well.

We are most blessed to be living in such a beautiful place. We live on a hill and overlook a horse ranch where people can come and ridc horses, and live only a stone's throw from where I lived during my teenage years - actually on a part of what was my parent's farm. It is quiet and peaceful here.

I hope you have a blessed evening and a good night. This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off. May God's grace and love rest on you.

What is on YOUR Refrigerator?

Howdy to all of you!

Well, I was in the kitchen this morning getting ready to eat, and as I was writing on the white board the date, and the day of the week for my husband, who never knows anymore what day or even what month it is, I happened to take note of the "stuff" that I have affixed to my fridge freezer door.

As you can see from looking at the picture, I have pictures of great grandchildren, a picture of my son-in-law, Daryl, with them, a picture of their dad and mom (Daniel & Whitney) with 3 of them, also a picture Mark & Allie's grandchildren.

Also, I have a page from a calendar that displays the days of July, a magnetic listing of the Jefferson city library hours, a magnetic card of our Baptist church information, and a few other magnets.

When we were living in Florida with our daughter, Teresa, and her husband, Tom, we had a "magic board" on the refrigerator. When we ran out of an item that needed replenishing, we would simply write it on the board, and the next time someone was in town at the grocery or Wal-mart, it would magically appear on the kitchen cabinet counter.

I know from my many years visiting with our oldest daughter, Carol, she keeps many different items on her fridge door, among them is a list of things needed at the grocery. On her fridge you would see pictures of the same grandchildren that appear on my refrigerator. She also has a menu for the week. Carol is a planner and cooks almost every meal that the family eats.

Dub and I consider Allie and Mark as our third set of children. On their fridge you will also find pictures of their grandchildren, and Allie collects magnets from places she has been to visit or to live.

So, what is on your refrigerator? Recipes? Photos? Pictures drawn by grandchildren or children? Magnets? Menus? Do things affixed to fridges tell a lot about the person? I think so.

We love our children, and grandchildren - we love our church and its members- I love reading and go often to the library - I love my husband and like to help him keep up with where he is and what day it is- so yeah, fridges are like a memo of your daily life, I think.

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A quick little story here about my difficulties with AT&T. When we moved six months ago from an apt. in Jefferson City, to where we presently live in the country, we only moved 5 miles - but what a difference five miles can make! In Jeff City, I had DSL internet with AT&T. Lo and behold, when we got out here, no DSL, only dial up, no cable available, so we had to get satellite television. Now unfortunately, in order to get high speed internet, we had to go to a different satellite company to get that. (now we have two satellite dishes) A couple more and we could have enough for a picnic. ha.

My daughters and oldest grandson supplied me with money to get the internet installed, but I waited until mid-May to get it installed. (It doesn't come cheap)

After getting the satellite dish installed for the internet, I called AT&T to discontinue the dialup and also decided to get rid of the long distance telephone service as well.

WELL, imagine my dismay when I opened the June AT&T bill, to be paid by July 3, to find the long distance not gone, but also be charged for DSL internet beginning two days after I had called to discontinue ALL internet services.

Have you ever tried to call a company that had computerized answering services? It is quite an experience. When I finally got to talk to a living breathing person, I had to talk to three of them before I got the whole thing taken care of. (That is, I hope it has been taken care of - I will find out when I get my next bill). And that is all of that for the time being. I'll bet you have a story to tell about calling a company and getting a computerized voice, haven't you?

Well, I hope you are enjoying this beautiful summer day as much as we are. We woke up to a gentle rain this morning, which cleared off by 10 a.m.

That is all from Blabbin' Grammy today. May God bless each of you, and I hope you get to go to Church tomorrow. Signing off for now with Love.

Our Fourth of July

Howdy, you-all,

We hope you had a lovely Fourth of July...We certainly did. My husband, Dub, and I took some frozen hamburgers (uncooked, of course) and some buns, chips, and other goodies with us and went to Knoxville to celebrate with my brother, Hugh, and his wife, Imazo. (See pictures)

We traveled down there, of course, in our little red Yaris. (see picture).

Imazo and I prepared the meal (including a box of brownie mix with walnuts), while our men rested on the front porch of their home. We dined well, felt quite replete, and then retired to the front porch for conversation, a cool breeze, and rest.

My brother, as well as I do, has congestive heart failure and have both had heart by-pass surgery (he twice) and I once. So we only had one hamburger instead of two, and they were awfully tasty. Oh, and we had yellow tomatoes that came from my husband's tomato patch. They were the very first tomatoes that we have harvested.

A little while later, Imazo and I went in to the house and left the guys enjoying the sunshine and fresh air. We needed some cooler air and went into the living room to talk and I kind of reclined partially on the couch. The first thing I knew after that, I was waking up with a light cover over my legs. She had seen me drowse off, and covered me so nicely with the cover. They have the kind of home that is so easy to relax in, you know.

Later, we all went into their family room and watched news on the TV and had some coffee and fresh brownies. Then we hugged goodbye and took our leave and headed back to New Market. What a really nice day we had!

Dub got up early this morning, so he has already retired for the evening at 8:00 p.m. He is a growing boy, so he needs his rest. I will probably retire for the evening around 11 p.m. I don't sleep well if I go to bed too early. Tomorrow I get to do the things I have been kind of avoiding this week: laundry, vacuuming, dusting, kitchen floor. Whoopee, doesn't that sound like fun?

On Wednesday, I get to go to the dentist and get two teeth prepared for new crowns that have been missing for a few years. Just putting it off because I have such a dread of going to the dentist..I have an allergic reaction to some of the caines that are used to numb the gums. I told him to just knock me out when I come in for it. I doubt that he will, though. The office person who makes the appointments asked me if I wanted an estimate of the cost, and I told her no, that I would probably have to sell half my furniture to pay for it. (Just joking, you understand). She said, "You are joking, right?" I said, "No, I mean it." She said, "we would hate to see you have to sell any of your furniture". I just laughed.

More on the dentist's visit on Wednesday evening...Well, that is all from Blabbin' Grammy today. May God's grace and love be with you all. Bye for now.

Our Time in Texas

Howdy there, you all,

Just wanted to share some of the pics that were taken while we were in Texas visiting our family out there.

We had a really great time, and just kind of took it easy while we were there. We had a family dinner with our daughter, Carol, her husband, Daryl, and three of their children (Andrew and wife, Julia), Matthew, and Emily.

Daryl and family are presently dealing with his illness, Multiple Myeloma, but are taking it in stride and not letting the illness rule their lives Daryl continues to work and to trust in God to help them deal with it. If you are interested in reading his thoughts on his illness, and how they deal with it, you can go to his blogsite, which is referenced in this blog, (God put the my in) at the side of the blog.

We played some games while we were there, because we love to play board games like dominoes, clue, etc. Carol and I took a few trips out in my little red Yaris (that is a car by Toyota). I bought it just a couple of weeks before we went out there. A few statistics on the cost of the gas and motels. I get 41 mpg with it, so it took only twenty two gallons of gas each way out there, at a cost of $177.75 for gas total for the trip. Well, the motels you might not be interested in, but anyway that cost was about $275.00 total.

I am putting a couple of photos in of some of the family out there. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera out when everyone was there. The first picture is of my husband and I with our daughter, Carol, and our grand daughter, Emily.

The second one is of my husband and I with our two grandsons, Matthew on left, and Andrew on the right.

My son in law, Daryl, was at work when I fished out my camera. Julia was at home, getting ready to go to work. BTW, she and Andrew are going to be parents of a baby girl in September.

The pictures were taken the morning that we were leaving, and Carol had gotten up early to fix us a delicious breakfast (Thank you, Carol!), and Andrew stopped by on his way home from work on the night shift.

We look forward to each visit with them. It is getting more difficult to make the trips, as the trips become more tiring for both my husband and myself. We used to go visit them twice a year, but realize that as we age, things change. We take the good where we can find it.

This is all from Blabbin' Grammy for this evening. God's love and grace rest upon each of you. Bye for now.

Good Food, Good Fun, Good Friends

Hello, Friends,

I love to eat, don't you? I also love to have good friends in to eat with us, and also enjoy going out to eat.

Each week I try to take a very good friend of mine out to eat lunch. Marian no longer drives, she is a feisty, funny lady of almost 90 years of age. She is the mother of another one of my good friends. Marian has to use a walker to get around, but she does get around quite well.

We usually try to go to different eating places to try out the food, and have found some really good ones. Recently we went to a Greek/Italian place, called the Gondolier. When we walked in, we immediately saw the desserts in the glass case where they were displayed, and we said something about how good they looked and that we would not be eating any.

The Manager (or part owner, I am not sure which) said something like , "Oh, yes, you must have dessert, see how good they look?" Marian looked at him and said, "you're cute!"

A while later, we were almost through eating and decided to have some chocolate cake after all. The young man (I say young because he looked to be about 40, and I consider that young) brought a big, big slice over to us and gave Marian a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Well, to say it surprised and flustered Marian would be an understatement. We laughed about it on the way home, and she said, "Don't you tell Judy and Gene (her daughter and son-in-law) because he will just have the best time teasing me about it".

We went back today, and sure enough, the young man brought a huge slice of Italian Cream Cake over to us, with two forks. Marian looked at it, and said, "Oh, My". They sent us home with extra breadsticks and dipping sauce, and of course no charge for the cake. Oh, and the young man asked on our way out if she was not going to let him give her a kiss. So he hugged and kissed her, and said, "You will come back next week won't you?" I told Marian that this was too good to keep to ourselves.

So, here it is, Blabbin' Grammy is blabbin' it all. I say to all of you, "Eat well, enjoy time with your friends and family, and make lots of happy memories." God's grace be with each of you. Love to you all. Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the evening.

Just Kind of Jumpin' Around

Howdy, dear Readers,

The reason this is titled "Just Kind of Jumpin' Around" is that rather than continue where I left off yesterday, I thought I would tell you something about my family's early history, (in case anyone is interested) My grandmother, on my mother's side, was half-Cherokee Indian and came from North Carolina. Apparently she was descended from those Cherokee who hid out in caves during the Removal to Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears, and thus were not sent out there. Even though I have searched for her roots, I don't have enough information to really trace them. My grandmother's mother was white, and her father was Cherokee, thus making my mother's mom (my grandmother) what was called a "half-breed".

My grandmother and grandfather were first cousins, but were not aware of it until some time after they were married. In 1908, the family all moved to Lorena, Texas, where my grandfather died from Pneumonia. That left my grandmother, Margaret, (for whom my sister was named) a widow with 7 children to care for. and she could neither read or write. They returned home to Loudon, TN, from where they had moved to Texas.


My grandmother took in washing and ironing to provide for her children. Also, each of her children, once they reached the age of 11, and had finished 5th grade, went to work in the knitting mill in Loudon. They turned their check over to her at the end of each week. Everyone worked. The youngest, Edith, was the only one who finished high school. She went to New York to live and work in the garment district.


Included here is a picture of the family made just before they went to Texas. I apologize for the poor image. I had to take a picture of the original to store on my computer. The original is now in the possession of my oldest daughter, Carol, who lives in Texas.
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We, my husband and I, spent a really nice day today in Knoxville with my brother and his wife, and my oldest brother's widow. We went to breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, and then took my oldest brother's widow, Mae, home so that she could spend some time with her daughter. Then we dropped off my brother and husband at my brother's house, and my sister-in-law, and I went shopping.
We had a lovely time and after coming back to their home and having some good cool watermelon, we said our goodbye's and traveled back to our home in New Market.
Time soon this evening to do our Bible Reading and spend some time in prayer, thanking God for safety in our travels and for all the kindnesses He provides for us, and to ask His forgiveness for our sins and shortcomings, and also to pray for others.
More tomorrow, dear friends. Love and grace to you all.
This is Blabbin' Grammy signing off for the evening.