Monday, July 29, 2013

Our outside cats, inside...

Some of you may remember the kittens we adopted almost a year and a half ago.  They grew up, moved outside, got pregnant and came back inside to have the babies.  Daddy, aka known as Mike-my hubby, was afraid something would get the babies if we let them deliver outside.  It didn't matter that we have had multiple (lots & lots) of litters outside in the past 13 years we have lived here.  Anyhoo, here are some pics that I took while they were back inside.
Twitch, the brown tabby and Itsy, the grey, relaxing in their favorite get away.  It was great while it lasted...the kittens eventually insisted on joining them!
Kids, what are you gonna do?
 Brother, Bo, just had to come in for a visit!
Aunt Elli, so forlorn!  Those stinkin' kittens get all the attention.

So, there are our babies all grown up.  If you are all up for it, I will post pics of the babies next.

Judy
Side Note...see the old buffet in the second pic.  Trying to decide if I want to strip it (it is solid walnut) or paint it.  What do you think?

Friday, July 26, 2013

Pics of Moccasin Holler

I have been sharing my Moccasin Holler Memoirs for a while now and I want to share some pics of Moccasin Holler.  Yep, there is a Moccasin Holler.
Let's start at the beginning.  This is Mama and Daddy, the newlyweds, standing in front of their first home.  Notice the house in the foreground, you will be seeing more of it.  At the time the pic was taken, Mama's parents lived there.
In this pic my little sis, Juletta, and I are standing in the front yard of the house where we grew up.  Seeing the road brings back so many memories.  We jump on our bikes and ride anywhere we wanted, just as long as we were home before dark.  You are also seeing Moccasin Holler...it looked like this for about a 4 mile stretch.  A few houses were scattered along the road, but for the most part there were fields of cotton, soybeans and corn.  Our closest neighbors were about two miles either way down the road!
 I want to fast forward a lot of years and show you another shot of my boys in about the same spot as my sister and I in the last pic.  This one shows  part of the pasture and one of the barns. In the foreground is the house where I was born and spent the first 8 years of my life.  There is also a better view of Moccasin Holler!!
 This is our castle!  See the antenna in the center of the pic on the far side of the house?  I shimmied up it almost every day to sit on the roof.  I loved looking at the livestock grazing in the beautiful tree filled pasture and daydreaming about things that fill a little girls head. 
I
 Oh, how I would love to be able to sit in the porch swing with Mama one more time. Here, we are getting my baby brother to sleep while my faithful friend, Boy, looks on.

I'm gonna leave you with this.  This has been bittersweet for me.  The house burned down several years ago and the whole farm, including where the house and pasture set, is now a rice paddy.  I was blessed to have been born and raised at this particular spot in Moccasin Holler.  I miss it still and hope you have enjoyed seeing the pics as much as I have enjoyed sharing them.
 
Judy
 
 

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Food, fun and fireworks...

who could ask for more? We will be spending tomorrow with our kids and grand-kids...food will definitely be involved!  Then, off to the park to enjoy a performance by the Community Orchestra...that will be extra special because our oldest grand-daughter is a member. Of course, fireworks are next. Fun, fun, fun!

Through all this I know memories of past 4th's will no doubt find their way into my thoughts.  It has been a few years since I have shared them with you, so I decided to post...



The 4th of July, Moccasin Holler Style


My sister, brother and I were lucky enough to have cousins our ages. They were the "city" cousins, but we never held that against them. They lived about 40 miles from us and we spent a lot of time together. The 4th was really special. The big ole washtub got drug off the back porch and filled with ice and sodas...something we didn't get very often. And, on the 4th we got to drink as many as we wanted. Unfortunately, they usually ran out before we drank our fill.

Our celebration actually started on the 3rd. Daddy would dig a pit in the back yard and Mama would bring out one of the grills from the oven to make sure the pit was the right size. Mama would get some pork steaks and pork chops out of the freezer. These were from one of the hogs that we had butchered the fall before.  We had our own chickens and I'm tellin' you, those critters knew what was comin'.  Thankfully, there were always a few that couldn't outrun Daddy!!  Mama had plenty to cook over that pit. Mama made her famous potato salad, our aunt brought her delicious strawberry shortcake and between the two of them we had all the fixins. Daddy would gather in a big basket of roastin' ears from the cornfield and fix up another tub of ice water for the watermelons and cantaloupes our uncle would be bringing.
By late afternoon of the 3rd, the city kinfolk had arrived and the games began. We had relay races around the house, played Annie Over, Jacks and snuck boloney or bacon out of the refrigerator, tied pieces to a long piece of twine and fished for crawdads in the big ditch across the road. This went on pretty much all night. Finally, when we were too tired to go on, we headed to the tent. Now this wasn't just your ordinary tent...it was special!! We gathered up pieces of rope and strung it between trees then went inside to the quilt stack and drug out enough quilts to make the sides of the tent with flaps hanging in the front and back. A few more to make our bed on the ground and we were set. We lit the old kerosene lantern and were lulled to sleep by the soft voices of Mama and Aunt Edith.
We woke up bright and early to find Mama already fixin' breakfast over a fire. While she had the bacon and sausage cookin', we would go to the hen house and gather up the eggs. I think I liked breakfast better than the 4th of July dinner (that's lunch to you northerners).  Just thinkin' of all that food makes me hungry!

Those days were filled with wondrous things...sodas, hand-churned ice cream, roasted marshmallows, swimmin' in Little River and so much love that you couldn't stir it with a stick.

 


I finish this post wishin' for all of you a 4th of July as wondrous as the ones from my childhood.

Judy