This blogging thing..

Last night Jenny and I went to the surprise baby shower for Angie. I couldn't mention it before because it was a surprise and she might have been reading my blog. I want to share that with you later but for now I want to share some of the conversation I had with Jenny on the way there and back in the car.

I have no pictures today...just words. As most of you know I'm full of words!! I think it's due to the fact that I was so shy growing up, afraid to speak...and actually brought up believing that "children are to be seen, not heard". As I got older I came out of that silence and talked to anybody who would listen!! Age is a funny thing, well not funny ha ha, but a strange thing I guess. Strange in that I can look back on my life and see myself at different stages, how I felt then and some of the trying times I've been through, but how it has all made me what I am today. I spent so much of my life, from early childhood on into my adult years, wanting to be somebody I was not or wanting to be like somebody else. I was never happy with ME! This is not going to be one of those whiny posts so you can keep reading! :)

Mine and Jenny's conversation had to do with blogging and how it has been good for me to put my feelings down in writing (type). I spent so many years bottling up my emotions and even got to the point where my heart was getting hardened, ceasing to feel. There were times when my heart felt like it was going to explode but I couldn't shed a tear. That is a scary feeling. I will spare you the 60 years worth of dealing with my emotional roller coaster.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is that this is where you, my Bloggy Friends, come in. I had tried at times to keep a personal journal to express my feelings but that's like talking to yourself!! I needed feedback!! I needed to know that somebody understood and would share that understanding with me! When I started this little blog, it was mostly to put down my feelings and share my new-found adventures with my old house, but it has become so much more.

I met Peggy way back before I started my own blog. I felt a kinship with her from the get go. She made me smile when she dressed up the goats for Christmas. She warmed my heart with the way she genuinely cared for other people. I loved that she shared her family fun times too.

Then I found a link on Peggy's sidebar which caught my eye. That's how I met Lib! What a sweet, down-to-earth person she is and always has a kind word for everybody! Lib is a private kind of person who lives in her own little Paradise. Since I've met her we have shared many emails and found that we have so much in common. I still say there is a family connection somewhere! :) I just know we're going to meet face to face sometime soon.

Through Lib's blog I met my dear little weather girl, Karen H.! She starts each day with a weather report that I tease her about. We also fight over who gets more coffee at Lib's house!! LOL I talked to Karen on the phone one night while her hubby was away on a trip. She is as REAL in person as she is on her blog. What you see is what you get with Karen!

Ms. Pea is my Canadian friend who feels like she's right next door. Pea, I was even there lurking when you got your tattoo and you didn't even know. I was shy then about commenting.
She is so friendly to all and so cute too. She reminds me of one of those big-eyed children in the artwork from the 60's.

I don't remember how I got to Brenda's blog but I'm so glad I found her! She wants to be my neighbor in VA and I so want her to be. We share a lot of that same emotional roller coaster! She makes me laugh and cry, sometimes at once. Just last night I cried with her when she announced that her son, Rian in Quatar, had made Senior Airman, and I remembered my pride in my own son in uniform.

The night I found Karen, she had just lost her Daddy and her heart was aching. I didn't even know this girl yet but I cried when I read her sweet words about him, prayed for the Lord to comfort her and rejoiced when she said that he had gone to be with his Savior.

Then there's Grams, who is really Carolyn, but will forever be Grams to me. She is the picture I always get in my mind of the perfect grandmother. Such a sweet, wonderful lady, and I'm always uplifted when I visit her.

There's Rhonda who is busy raising a beautiful little son and has such a childlike faith which we all need. She is a new friend but I know she is a keeper!

Tammy is also a new friend who invited me to view her new, more private blog. I'm just getting to know her but I like what I know already!

I'm just getting to know Sandi from Whistlestop Cafe even though I've been to her sight lurking for a long time too. All that food and especially the fried green tomatoes makes my mouth water!! I was drawn there because one of my favorite books and movies is Fried Green Tomatoes!! Sandi has a great sense of humor too!

I know that down the blogging road I will meet many more wonderful people and I look forward to that but I just wanted to say, "THANK YOU" to each of you who have welcomed me. It is amazing how small the world suddenly feels when you have friends from all over praying with you, praying for you, sharing your heartaches and your burdens. Always there with a kind word to help you along life's way, making you smile or laugh out loud at times. Very important!

Last but certainly not least, THANK YOU, my beautiful daughter for loving me and encouraging my blogging endeavor. I love you!

Collections, collections...

Let's see...I think I met Tiff @ Folded Gingham about 30 years ago...no not really, but at least a year ago...we'll say that since I suffer from CRS!! I don't remember what route I took to find her either but I can tell you that I fell in love with her blog immediately and loved her style. The more I read and the more pictures she shared, the more I saw that we had so much of the same tastes in our collections. One in particular caught my eye. She had a lot of old red handled utensils which she had displayed in an old juicer and had them on an old hoosier cabinet. I had a bunch of the utensils and had wanted to figure out a cute way to display them together. I emailed Tiff and commented on how neat that was and if she didn't mind I wanted to copy her idea!! If you go here and enlarge the picture of the hoosier you will see it. Being the sweet girl that she is, she didn't mind at all!! :)

Then one day she had a giveaway on her blog. I was so excited and immediately left a comment and I WON!! The prize was a little quilt and a little bird, both handmade by Tiff. These are my prizes that I will always treasure:



Then yesterday she blogged about her enamelware collection and had displayed some of it on a hutch. She also informed me that she has more to show!! Well, not to be outdone, I have to show you my little collection too.



I love the red and white. Notice the little green pan? You can also see that one hanging on the backsplash in my header picture. I think that one is my favorite because I'd never seen a green one before. If you don't already know, green is my favorite color!! I also think this little black and white double boiler is so cute:



I also noticed that Tiff had several chamber pots in her collection. At least I think they are. Forgive me, Tiff, if they are bean pots instead! Tomato...tomahto.. lol You never know!! :)
Anyway here's mine:



Now here's where I think I'm one up on Tiff....I actually used one of these when I was young. That's right, in the cold winter I parked my little butt down on that cold enamel many, many nights. Hey, it sure beat going outside and down the path to one of these:



Anyway, if you haven't visited Tiff be sure to go over today. Tell her Hope sent you. She's a very busy girl with a big family--SIX beautiful children! She is also very crafty and is always rearranging things in her home. :) It makes me tired sometimes just visiting her and seeing all that she does in a day's time! (And while you're there, take notes on all the cute little displays she has so you can come back and give me some more ideas that I can copy!!)

It's almost time..

Remember I told you I am going to be Granny again?? My son called a little while ago and said Angie went for her doctor visit. Her due date was Feb. 3 but he says now that's wrong! She is 2 centimeters dilated and 80% effaced. The doc says probably no longer than the middle of January sometime but it could be any day!! I'm really excited!! Kian, youngest grand, will be 8 on the 29th of Jan. so it has been a while since we've had a little baby around!

This is a collection that I call my Rocking Chair pictures. Each one is me holding my grandbabies right after they were born, starting at the top with Collin, who is now 13! Kian (last picture) was premature and in intensive care. He had wires attached to him everywhere but they let me hold him for this picture. Can't wait to add the 4th picture!

Old photos...OLD???

I was sitting here one night not long around just browsing on the net, not really looking for anything in particular, when I happened upon our local Historical Society webpage. I found this site very interesting. It had old photos of our little town, old school buildings present and past, some which no longer exist, including the one where I went to grade school. My school, along with most other buildings in the little town where I grew up, was destroyed by a big flood back in the 70's.



Notice the old cars? See that big sycamore tree to the right? I use to be allowed to dust out the erasers on the trunk of this tree. Every child in class would beg to do this chore just for a short reprieve from the classroom.

There was so much on this site that I spent hours looking and looking...way into the night...all the old places that I recognized, some that I didn't because they were before my time. There were pictures of many, many people, also some I recognized and some I didn't, some I had heard my parents talk about but never met. After I had scoured the many pages listed by categories, I found MISCELLANEOUS! What could this one be? When, what to my wondering eyes should appear?? This:



Yep, there I was in black and white...most of the white being the petticoat I was modeling that day!! (Another little meme fact that I omitted before: I hate wearing clothes!! lol) That's my mother holding my hand.

You can imagine my surprise. This was a photo from the collection of a man I never knew and also a photo that I had never seen before!! I'm going to have to investigate this further!! And, did I say OLD photos??

Beginning the new year..

Well, folks, it's 2008 now. DH and I spent a quiet night watching the big ball in Times Square drop last night. Of course, we had food too...always food!! lol I feel as though the holidays went by in a blur. I haven't even bothered to make any New Year's resolutions this year. I would like to do what Lib suggests by living a more simple way of life. There are so many things I need to improve on but I'll just keep them to myself, that way ya'll won't know I failed!! lol

Sunday night my grandson, Kian, came and spent the night with me. DH had to work so we spent the evening alone playing games and giggling together. He makes me laugh. My daughter and her family went to Florida to visit a friend the day after Christmas. They just got home last night and came to visit me today which meant more games and fun with the kids. She made chili and it tasted so good on this cold day! Nope, no black-eyed peas or greens here today!!

Tonight Dave and I took our decorations down inside the house. It took a while to do and now things look a little bare. I kinda like that look....for now! :) I usually want to rearrange everything once all that is out of the way! Dave went outside to collect some of the things off the porch to pack away and hollered for me to come out there. Here's what I saw:



The snow was pouring down!! Can you see it in the street light? I was so excited and ran back in to grab the camera. (I've never taken the time to figure out the settings on my camera so the picture wasn't great.) I couldn't believe it was snowing....finally!



Just look at those big flakes!! Beautiful!! I know this is nothing compared to the snow Tiff has had but, hey, it's still snow!!!

I'm so grateful for all my new friends that I've met in Blogland and I'm looking forward to this new year getting to know each of you better.

glitter-graphics.com

Just wanted to pop in with a message to all my wonderful new "Bloggy Friends". I wish each of you a very happy, healthy and Blessed New Year. I have so enjoyed the friendships I've made since I came aboard in November and I am looking forward to 2008 and getting to know ya'll better! Dave and I are just spending a quiet evening at home tonight and probably watch the big ball drop on tv. Whatever your plans are for the Eve, have fun and be safe.

Love and Hugs to each of you,
Hope

I HAVE BEEN TAGGED

Here's how it works:

Link to the person who tagged you. Peggy @ Hidden Haven Homestead

Post the rules on your blog.

Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.

Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Random Facts About Hope:

1) I use to live next door to the White House. Well, not exactly. I went to D.C. with another girl to work for the government when I was about 19. We lived on 16th street and could see the top of the White House from our apartment building. I lived in that area for 7 years before coming back to the hills.

2) I was born at my Aunt's house..not a hospital. I was the youngest of 6 children and my mother had them all at home. She was older by the time I came along and must have had a few complications because with me she had a doctor and not a midwife. She refused to go to the hospital so the doctor asked her to please try to get closer to the hospital at least which is how I came to be born in Tennessee instead of VA.

3) I am a smoker (insert condemnations here). I have Chantix tucked away in a drawer. Hopefully I'll get up the courage to take them in this new year and quit. We'll see how that goes.

4) I would love to be a writer. I have so many true and interesting stories inside my head that I would like to share with others but it doesn't seem to flow from my mind, through my arm to my hand, and onto paper! I can't seem to collect my thoughts as well as I get older!!

5) Speaking of old....I turned 60 in September. I find myself wondering where all those years went!! My mind still feels young but my body keeps arguing with my mind!!

6) I was very shy growing up. If somebody even spoke to me I would hide behind my mother. As a result I would let people run over me in a sense. I was like that until I had my daughter. When that mother bear instinct took over I got over the shyness fast.

7) I have a fear of flying. I flew one time when I was about 21 in a small plane. We flew over DC into Maryland. I was enjoying it until an engine went out and smoke started coming from it. A friend of ours was the pilot and must have been a good one. He landed us safely even though we bounced down the runway!! Now I get this crazy feeling in the pit of my stomach if I even watch a plane taking off from the airport!!

Ok, Peggy, I did it. Now tagging 7 others might be a problem. All the people on my list have either already been tagged or are out of town!! lol But I'll try!

I tag:
1) Sue @ Country Pleasures
2) Brenda @ Country Romance
3) Tiff @ Folded Gingham
4) Karen@ Kindred Haven
5) Pea @ PEA's Corner
6) Christie @ Serenity Now
7) Carolyn @Talk..to..Grams

This Old House

I have been asked by several people about my old house and the style of it. Yesterday Brenda at Country Romance came by for a visit and asked about it so I thought I would share a few more pictures. (Brenda loves this part of the country is still working on hubby because we want to be neighbors, right Brenda? :)

From what info we have been able to gather, this little area we live in was once a farm and was later divided into parcels and sold off and streets built in different directions later. We aren't really sure but it would explain why we have a farmhouse in the middle of town, or the original owners of the house just liked the farmhouse style of house. Who know?

I have many before pictures of the house which I had developed and no longer have on my computer. Hopefully I will have a scanner soon and can show you, then you can appreciate all our hard work more! :) I do have some thumbnail size pics that I loaded back to the computer but you have to have really good eyes to see them!! I think you can get an idea though. This little picture was taken from the back of the house before any repairs began:



The roof had about 4 layers of shingles stacked on top of each other. When all those came off there were the original tin shingles. They were in bad shape and couldn't be preserved...as a roof anyway, so all of it was torn off and replaced with a metal roof. Then my crafty neighbor, Wayne, that you hear a lot about and see so much of his handiwork in my home, built me this cabinet made from old barnwood. If you look closely you will see that some of the old tins from our roof were preserved and are now part of the cabinet doors!!



I've mentioned before how hard it is to get a direct picture of our house, especially the front, without being in a helicopter!! This one was taken back in the fall. Notice the original stone wall along the street in front:



It is equally hard to get a good picture of the porch which is really big but looks so much smaller in the pics. This one I took today and you can see that our Christmas decor still hasn't come down. As you can see, the sun is shining so purty here today after several days of rain. It is casting shadows of the bannisters draped with garland onto the porch floor. That's Tobi, my sweet old dog, basking in the sun...her favorite thing to do. See the sign hanging at the far end above the porch? It says, "SIT LONG...TALK MUCH", which is exactly what I do when the weather is warm.



This is the AFTER picture of the back of the house and of course my beautiful mountain in the foreground. We added a big den and also a bathroom upstairs. The building on the left is our garage:



Just to show you how close we are to town, this picture was taken from the end of our driveway looking toward our little town.



We have lots of neighbors within "spittin' distance". Shucks, if you are a good spitter you can spit from one end of town to the other!!

I hope you've enjoyed another tour, well mini-tour. I'm off now to search out a spot for Brenda when she gets here :). There are still lots of old houses just waiting for some love and attention!