- If you’ve been following my blog since the early days of My Southern Heart, then you know it is my dream to visit the British Isles…especially Scotland and Ireland. My original ancestor, Rev. William McGregor, was a Baptist preacher in Scotland – rare in those days! I enjoy pursuing the answers to the mysteries about our Scottish ancestors. Mama’s ancestors were Irish and I’m also on the trail of those early immigrants! (Most of them were here before the American Revolution which makes finding them in Scotland and Ireland especially difficult.)Since it doesn’t appear that I will be setting foot in Scotland any time soon, I have started a small collection of Scottish mugs. It started with one mug, of course, as most collections do. They are made by Dunoon Mugs in Scotland. (The only mug made by Dunoon Mugs in England is the one with the cat.) The mugs I’ve collected so far are either fine bone china or stoneware and have very comfortable handles. Suprisingly, beverages stay hot in them rather a long time.I especially like the mugs depicting pastoral scenes in Scotland as this mug does.Of course, no afternoon cup of tea in Scotland – or Ireland for that matter – would be complete without a delicious scone to accompany it! Like the one below that I wrote about here with recipe.I do have a confession though.The mugs may have come from Scotland, but the tea came straight from IRELAND!Check out the brief slideshow below to see all seven of the mugs I’ve collected so far.…
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I wonder about a lot of things. I always have. Thankfully, there is the Bible, the inspired Word of God, to fill in a lot of the blanks. Maybe with all the things we really need to know. I know in Heaven there is no more sorrow, no more crying, no more night, no more illness – no more growing old. We are young and strong again. I know we “will know as we are known”. We will recognize one another! Since we won’t be growing old, as we do on this earth, then I have to assume we won’t be celebrating birthdays. Or maybe we will remember the birthday that we had on this earth? The Bible doesn’t tell us that.
If my sister Gerry were still on the earth, she would be celebrating her 84th birthday. But she’s in Heaven and young again. I dreamed about her last night. I dreamed about her birthday and everyone was celebrating. I believe that she is celebrating in Heaven today! Happy Birthday, Sis! I miss you more than words can say but I will see you again in Heaven!
Above: boating on Grenada Lake about 1963.
Below: At their house “on the hill” mid 1980’s.
She’s probably making a joke in Heaven about her 80’s hair!
August 1st is also the day of celebrating my daughter-in-love Amanda’s birthday. She really is very much like my sister Gerry – the same heart of gold. I will always remember when my son brought her home from college to meet us. His father and I fell in love with Amanda right there on the spot. I clearly remember telling my son, “you can marry her or I will ADOPT her, but either way, I am KEEPING her!” I’m so happy to be her second mom. Happy Birthday, Amanda! I love you!
August 1st is also my daughter and her beloved’s wedding anniversary! Tonight, I will be babysitting as they go out for dinner to celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary. Where did the time go? Thankfully, that time gave me four wonderful grandchildren. I have two sons and one that I consider my precious son as well! I am blessed! Happy Anniversary! I love you both!
For more pics and stories of the first day of August, read here.
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I was at my desk working on (or at least contemplating) getting some bills paid and filing the stack of papers piled on the edge of my desk. As I sat there feeling more than a bit unmotivated, the phone rang. Susan, my friend and downstairs neighbor, was calling to ask if I could help her with a small writing/publishing project. I replied sure, but that it might have to be tomorrow sometime.
Wise woman that she is, she mentioned that she just happened to have a freshly made pineapple upside-down cake. Warm from the oven. Of course, she had no way of knowing that pineapple upside-down cake is a trigger word for home. In the dessert department, there are any number of trigger words for home that she could have used: lemon ice box pie, fresh apple cake, fried apple pies…yellow cake with homemade caramel frosting. Any one of these would have done it. Needless to say, I postponed paying bills for a visit and a big slice of pineapple upside-down cake.
When I was growing up, my Daddy usually worked the 3-11 shift on Saturday evenings. So, Mama and I had our little Saturday night ritual. She’d make delicious homemade spaghetti, salad, rolls and lemon ice box pie or pineapple upside-down cake for dessert. We’d take our plates into the small den adjacent the kitchen and eat while we watched Perry Mason. I was a mystery fan even back then.
Eventually, I was old enough to date on the weekends but usually preferred a Friday evening date to a Saturday evening one. I enjoyed our Saturday evening Perry Mason time together and our pineapple upside-down cake…
The photo above is from one of my favorite go-to sites: All Recipes!
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I confess that yesterday’s post took it out of me. When the heart knows that there is so much to be done and so many children hurting, it is painful. I want to scoop everyone of the hurting children up in my arms and soothe them. I want to feed them and clothe them. I want to be a loving grandmother to them. But, of course, that’s impossible. So, I began the search to see what I could do here…on limited resources and energy. I would love to sit in the nursery at the hospital and rock babies who don’t have enough visitors. I am a Registered Nurse but I don’t want that role with the babies. I just want to comfort and cuddle them. I haven’t looked into that one yet. There is a possibility I could work with young adults with special needs. I think it would also be fun to work in a soup kitchen. I am researching and praying about it.
In the meantime, I needed some endorphins! I needed a sense of well being and the reassurance that not every child in this world is in harms’ way. So, I invited myself to an afternoon of play and dinner at my daughter’s house (I have an open invitation). I picked a good night because she was preparing Ree Drummond’s lasagna and fabulous homemade bread from the Amy’s Bread cookbook.
While my daughter and my sixteen year old grandson ran some errands, I stayed with the other children and finished rotating the homemade chocolate chip cookie batches through the oven. My five year old grandson wanted to play but I was manning the oven, so I suggested that I introduce him to a little 50’s and 60’s music. His dad has introduced him to the 80’s music, so he thought that was a cool idea. We began with Rockin’ Robin. Remember that one? Try standing still listening to that! Then Splish-Splash, I Was Taking a Bath! Then I wanted to introduce him to one of my lifetime favorites: Elvis Presley! I knew to choose wisely of course. He is, after all, only five but this sweet grandson has more than his share of rhythm…just like Grandmommy! 😉 So we listened to Teddy Bear, Don’t Be Cruel and then the movie clip from G.I. Blues where Elvis sings Wooden Heart in a puppet booth. We had a good time and, about that time, my daughter and grandson were back.
I returned home refreshed with leftover lasagna and bread…and a sense of peace and happiness.
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It takes very little to make me happy. Precious time with my sweet family. A slow, steady rain or warm sunshine with a gentle breeze. Blue skies overhead with white cotton clouds. A comfortable place to call home. (Notice I did not say large or extravagant…just comfortable with a few of my personal touches.) My books and time to read them. Sustenance of course. My morning coffee, good food, good water and maybe some Sweet Tea. Warmth for the winter here in this cozy condo…and cool air for the summer.
The A/C unit that came with this condo that I rented almost two years now was original to the building. My sweet “landlady” had previously had refrigerant added to it – twice. However, there was a leak and no amount of refrigerant (which is expensive) would last that long.
It has been hot and humid here – think Memphis. The condo had become very warm and uncomfortable. So, thankfully, she ordered a new Lennox central air conditioning unit. I was so glad!
Last Friday, they arrived with a very large crane. All the central air units are on the roof – although I’ve never noticed them from outside. The A/C unit was unpacked and securely attached to a sturdy-looking harness. Then the crane did its work. The unit literally dallied back and forth in the air. I held my breath. The next thing I knew it was unloaded and the crane lift was coming back down. It took a few more hours and then all the work was done. Installation successful. Sweet cool air surged through my cozy home.
I wished my grandsons had been here for the show! When my now sixteen year old grandson was less than two years old, he knew the names of all the earth/heavy moving equipment. He couldn’t pronounce them completely, but he knew them. All John Deere…of course.
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Annie is a beloved member of my firstborn’s family. Annie is the most beautiful Golden Retriever that I have ever seen. She is even prettier than Alex, our family Golden for 15 years. Annie is a light golden and came from championship stock in North Carolina. I fell in love with this little ball of light golden fur the first time I saw her.
Now, Annie did have a strong will. I’m thinking she may have been the “alpha pup” in the litter. However, she has been trained beautifully and is a wonderful dog.
I wish that I could download the awesome pics that are on my iPad of Annie and me from my last visit with them. (My computer version is not compatible with the iPad PC version download unfortunately.) Annie climbed up on the sofa with me and snuggled in my lap! She thinks she is a lap dog! I was talking on my phone at the time and she kept looking up at me as if to say, “well, silly Grandmom, get off the phone! Can’t you see I need some attention.” So that’s just what I did.
Annie loves living in Montana now. The family hikes, climbs mountains, wades streams and camps and it’s right down Annie’s alley!
I will be in Montana for a visit on August 20th and I can’t wait to see all of them…including sweet Annie!
See Annie’s lip curled up? She was talking to me when I took this photo! It was Thanksgiving in Memphis and she was temporarily detained outside. She wanted to be inside with the huge crowd of people! That would have been fine with me. She couldn’t understand why I just would not rescue her! I would have if I could have, Annie…