Southern Charm

Heading South to visit these two!

Be back soon!

Say it isn't so....

About a week and a half ago I made a startling discovery.  One of my beloved hens, Penny, is a Lenny!  As I took them out their daily treat, I bent down and noticed a little "growth" under Penny's chin.  Where did that come from?  After all Penny is the pink one!  I called Les over to confirm my suspicions.  A chuckle and an "Ut Oh! We have a problem".
I tried to swap Penny out for another Penny.  Kim said she didn't have anymore left....  I think she is telling me a little white lie.  Part of me was happy- I have become attached to my girls and really did not want to adopt her, I mean him, out.  What was a chicken mama to do????
I tried to ignore the fact. I still said "good morning girls" as I took them outside every day.  I just didn't want to face the truth.
Today I had to-
"Penny" crowed.

Life is strange sometimes.....

I did something over the weekend that I have never done before.....visited Eastern Market!  I was there once in the middle of the week for a seminar, but that was it.  I was really looking forward to it.  Back in February, I wrote about a woman named Karen who opened up a little shop down there.  She was very inspirational to me for some reason.  It was a simple story in the newspaper, but I was drawn to it and made a mental note to myself, that I must get down there this summer and check out her shop.  So off we went..... Ate breakfast at a deli that had an assortment of vegetarian meals to choose from.  All of them sounded sooooo good.  It was hard to choose.  Then off to the "Sheds" to wander with the crowds and check out what all the fuss was about.  The sights, sounds and smells, were giving my senses an overload.  A good overload!  I studied the each booth and took notes all the wonderful things that were available.  I can't wait to go back and load a basket full of goodies.  I didn't buy anything, which you might find odd, but I had just been to the grocery store, and Marcy informed me the garden was full and she had some veggies set a side for me.  Plus, I was more interested in finding Karen's shop.   Studying a map, I determined it was just on the next block behind the parking garage.  I dragged everyone along to Savvy Chic.  We rounded the corner and there it was.  I can't explain why I needed to go there, I just had to see it.  A woman was out front tending to her merchandise that spilled out of the shop onto the sidewalk.  I went up to make small talk..."are you the owner?"  ''No, Karen is out buying."  Darn!  I continued to chit chat with her and then made my way into the charming little shop.  I loved everything about it.  Disappointed Karen wasn't there, I promised myself I would be back.

Monday morning, I made a call to my sister.  Proudly telling her I went to Eastern Market for the first time.  "Did you visit Savvy Chic?" ..I was shocked she said that, because we have never talked about that store, Karen or much of Eastern Market for that matter.  How did she know?????  "YES, I did!"
I proceeded to tell her about the article, my blog entry and how I NEEDED to meet her. 
"I know Karen" she said.  "What!  You know the owner of that shop?"  " Yes, she sells some of my merchandise."  She let me know that as soon as Karen was home from her buying trip to Atlanta, she was going to come to her home to pick up some more stuff to sell.  Can you believe it?????
My sister is friends with a woman I read about in the paper and have wanted to meet.  You bet I better get a phone call when she comes over.  I want to sit on the deck and have a glass of sweet tea with her.  I can't wait.  Life is full of twists and turns sometimes....and why I need to meet Karen?, I don't know, I just know I need to. 

Revisit my entry on Karen.... It's at the bottom of the post

http://sprinklesomeglitterontop.blogspot.com/2011/02/have-i-found-miracle.html

Everything old is new again

Remembering my grandparents has always been a fond memory for me, as it should for every child.  Over the past couple of months I have been reminded of them over and over. 
It started when the girls decided they wanted to plant a garden.  It brought back memories of my grandfather tending to his garden, fruit trees and bees.  All of those things managed to thrive on Meridian just a stones throw from where I live now.  The honey comb that sat on a saucer in the middle of the kitchen table.  We would slowly smash the comb and watch the honey ooze out until we had just enough to slather on our toast.  The okra my grandmother would bread and fry in the skillet until it was burnt, just how I like it.  To this day I can't eat it any other way.
Problem is, no one else can make it taste that way.  The "grandma" green beans as we called them, cooked in a pot all day with potatoes.  I made a meal of that on many occasions.  After I was married I would go visit and grandma would hand me a bag of beans already snapped and ready to go. These are the images I conjured up when the girls mentioned they wanted to have their own. 
I heard the beans are ready, I don't think they will be "ready to go", but I know when I sit down to snap them, I will be thinking of my grandma.

When I brought Bessie,  my new trailer, home my sister said she had some things for me.  A visit to her house sent us reminiscing as we poured through boxes that have been packed away since the 80's.
Along, with the vintage linens, the apron she wore, the old tea pot and other little treasures, I am excited to drag home the glider that used to occupy the back porch.  The old, heavy, extremely heavy, metal rusted glider that has made the rounds.  Aunt Mae and Uncle Walter bought it in the 40's.  They moved to Florida and gave it to my grandma.  She then gave it to my Aunt, then when she moved she gave it to my sister, who moved and gave it to my other sister.  So it's my turn!  She is going to look awesome under the canopy of my trailer!  Isn't it funny no one wanted to see this old rusty glider set out for the trash.  It will be fun to sit and make it go back and forth like I did when my feet barley touched the ground.

Marcy called the other day to say their was a opossum hanging around.    After the opossum incident last year, we need to make sure it doesn't happen again.  Let's just say, if you don't know the story, Opossums and lawn mowers don't mix.  Plus the next day she called to say the Opossum had made it's way inside her house and she found it in the bottom of her kitchen trash can.  Good thing it was a baby.  She called the city and they wanted $25.00 to come out and set the trap.  So we borrowed one and took it over there.  It seems to be a smart one, because even though she has tied the food down, it manages to eat and leave without getting caught.  I can remember many times as a youngster, watching my grandfather carry the trap with a raccoon in it to the trunk of the car.  We would then pile in the back seat as he drove, which seemed like forever, to  wooded land in Brownstown.  He would open the trap and bang on it and the critter would take off running into the woods.  We did this numerous times because the raccoons would eat his corn so he took them far away so they would not come back.  I am not sure he would have been able to plant a garden these days with the deer.    So I am anticipating a trip out somewhere far away and letting that little opossum go, I will bang on the cage and watch him run to freedom.   Or- I think I will have Les bang on the cage, I will sit in the car and peer out the window and fondly remember watching my grandfather do the same thing  many decades earlier.

Too much to do.....

This is how I have been feeling lately!  Maybe too much on my plate???