When Queens Ride By

Tonight I will be hostess to a New Year's eve party. I am hopin' I can pull this one off. All John's idea and a right surprise too. After church  on Sunday he told me that he offered our place to hold a New Year's eve bonfire for fellowship. Before I knew it I had so many ladies asking me what they could bring! I was so taken back I told them whatever they please for their family and some to share. What that is gonna look like I haven't got a clue.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I put up some large crocks of my grape juice on the back porch to chill and I have ten pies baked, apple, blueberry and peach, all from my summer canning. John has a large smoked shoulder warming and I have about twenty taters cooking in the stove. John told me to keep it real simple and not to overwork myself, so I am takin' his advice. He has hay bales all outside the bonfire pit for folks to sit on and I do hope they remember quilts to cover th...

(For Laura-Merry Christmas to you and yours!) Oh what a Christmas! It's been a lovely season for sure. The children enjoyed their gifts so. John made a beautiful set of wooden building blocks for Virginia. Sanded them smooth as silk to the touch.  Ruth Ann got a big dollhouse, just a plain kind of house made of maple. The kind of dollhouse a child needs to use their imagination a bit. There is a tiny staircase and a few twig beds with little quilts I made. She has been playing with it nonstop! The boys got themselves new slingshots and some coon skin hats. They reckon they are Davey Crockett.  John made me a beautiful new cutting board for the kitchen and surprised me with a pair of leather shoes from the Sears & Roebuck catalog. I had the page bookmarked and was saving for them. John said he got stumped about a present for me and wanted something pretty when he grabbed the catalog and saw my notation on the page. They are a perfect fit and just right pretty to l...

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What a lovely June day we had! After a glorious mornin' of worship the family headed home for our lunch. There was a slight breeze on this warm day, so I thought, why not spread a cloth and have us a picnic. My dear friend Rosealee and her family joined us too! What a delight to have our new and dear friends over to share an afternoon of relaxin' and fun. I spread a nice red checked gingham over the old table out back and cut a few apple blossoms and decorated the table with a jar full of those. I am glad I had the foresight to fry up a bit of extra chicken last night. Lately, I always make more than a couple of pies on the weekends, just in case we have the opportunity to share a meal. Boy, now that would not have been me a short year or so ago! Haven't I changed some! We lunched on fine fried chicken from last night's supper, stewed tomatoes, chilled pickles , a pepper chutney from Rosealee I have never had the likes of, simply the tastiest chutney ever. Rosela...

Well now hasn't it been too long since I wrote a bit in my diary! Life is just rollin' on by faster than a filly in a derby, my John would say. My Granny Nettie loved Decoration Day, she told us stories of all the parades in her day. My they were grand! Granny Nettie made the most delicious 4 layer cakes you ever did taste and every Decoration Day she made a lot of them for the church table. Everyone wanted a slice of Nettie's cake. Her husband Sam, my Grandpa used to tell us stories of folks fightin' in line to get a slice. Granny always shushed him, but he kept on. He always had a good laugh which Granny weren't none too happy about. I most remember the vanilla ice cream done in the old crank ice cream maker. Was it delicious! I do hope there will be a bit of ice cream there! I am gonna ask John to get our ice cream maker down from the attic. Seems there was never time to do things like that--now it is so different. Won't the children love some homemade i...

How I have missed my quiet times writing in my diary! My Grandma used to tell me never to waste time as it slips through your fingers like sand. I never understood what she meant, but now I sure do! John and I had a darling baby girl July 10.. Her name is Virginia Rose. I named her after my Mum and my new friend Rosealee. She is a petite little thing only weighin  6lbs at birth. It was a tough pregnancy boy! Right after Thanksgiving I got sick with my blood pressure. The midwife wanted me in hospital, but with a family at home and my responsibilities I told her that won't work.  John got right fussy with me and took me in to hospital and they gave me some new fangled medication that was supposed to help and told me to stay in bed. Now, I have never stayed in bed unless I am really sick. Course the doctor who was pretty no nonsense told me and John if I didn't stay in bed I would lose the baby and maybe die! That did it-John insisted I be in bed. My lands all the thought...

Well now if the days aren't just buzzin' by as fast as can be! The autumn harvest was a success, praise the Lord! We had lots of help with the orchard. Church family came to help us, what a true blessing that was. Then one morn' a colored man showed up with a wagonload of folk and asked us if we needed help with the orchard. Seems they call these folks migrant workers.John said years ago his grandad would employ these kind of workers.  John explained to them we couldn't pay much and they were fine with what we could offer. The two abandoned shacks on the back acre where the orchard ends is where they stayed, guess this is where these kind of workers stayed years back when John's grandad had the orchard buzzin'.  Why I was right mortified and ran out there to try and clean those places up a bit, but their women folk already had it under control.  One thing I was able to do was share the food we had, I am so thankful I put up such a bountiful harvest.  John eve...