Memorial Day Tribute To My Family

Good morning on this beautiful Memorial Day. Welcome Through My Back Door. I am so happy you took time on this busy day to drop by. I am going to have to tell you this morning the coffee is plain old DD.Not flavored, because I hadn't planned on having you today. You see after I did my morning devotions I was thinking about this day and what it means. We all know someone who has lost their life that we may continue to live free. We all know someone who has served and someone who is serving today. I never thought of my family as a military family. BUT, this morning it occurred to me we are. I have an Uncle Dillon that served in WW2. He was a decorated soldier. He had no children, so I put a flag on his grave on Memorial Day. My only brother-in-law,Bruce, is buried in Arlington, as he was wounded in Vietnam, and was a two time Purple Heart Recipient. He was a Captain in the USMC.His burial at Arlington was one of the most impressive things I have ever witnessed in my life. Seeing the exchange of the remains from the hearse to the  horse drawn caisson, is a spiritual reverence I can't describe. Being in Arlington is like walking on hallowed ground. I have an uncle,JN, buried there too. He also was a Marine and one of the first influences on my son.I have a second cousin,Justin Peterson,who died too young in Iraq. He was also a Marine.  My oldest son,Doug, was in the Marine Corp too. My only sister in law, Margaret, retired a Captain from the Navy. Actually she and my brother-in-law met when he was wounded and she was his nurse. (He liked to say she withheld his pain meds until he agreed to marry her.lol) Then still serving today in the Army, is my niece Kate. She has done 3 tours in the middle east. I am so proud of her and her commitment, The backpack she had to carry in Iraq is bigger than her!  Yes, I think we are indeed a Military family. So to each of you I say thank you today for your contribution. I am so proud of each and everyone of you and for the sacrifices you have made. I love you.
To everyone of our Military serving today, or who has served in the past, I say thank you. I pay tribute to your families who have sacrificed so you can do your calling. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Thank you for coming Through My Back Door where life is good.
betty

If you would like to read my cousin dales blog about Memorial Day:
Dale Peterson  
His  son died in Iraq

Things That Make Me Smile

Welcome Through My Back Door on this beautiful May evening. I am so happy you stopped by. The coffee is on, DD Hazelnut, and Dasko just had a bath, so it is nice here this evening. I heard yesterday coffee is going up again about 11%, but I guess I'll just grin and bear it. So don't worry, there will always be coffee on Through My Back Door. I really appreciate all your birthday wishes. That makes me smile. My birthday was so much fun, I may be in the winter of my life, but we celebrated with a frenzy.lol I felt like Spring, actually.lol My card group had a party on Monday before. That is always fun. Then on Sunday my domino group went out to lunch and celebrated. Sunday night the family celebrated, and on Monday night
Deb, Michael, and Curt took me to dinner. All of that made me smile. I have probably gained five pounds.(That does NOT make me smile) Of course I received many wonderful gifts which made me smile, but it is the love and friendship of these family and friends that really Makes Me Smile! I am so blessed.
Another thing that makes me smile is sitting out on the porch and seeing this.

I have a lot of daylillies and they are budding. Won't be long until I can show you pictures of them. Do you remember several years ago the song, The Tree? It was a sad song, I don't remember who sung it, but it talked about a tree and how big it had grown and his wife who had planted it had died.(I told you it was a sad song). Well anyway look at how tall this tree is.

This is the Tulip Poplar, which is our state tree. They give a"stick" probably 2 feet tall to the fourth graders in our state. Or at least they did. My next to the oldest grandson wanted to plant his here. He and his Granddaddy planted it, we didn't expect it to live. Look at it now. I have no idea how tall it is. But it makes me smile! He is 26 years old now and still checks on "His" tree. This is another tree that makes me smile when sitting on the front porch. It is a magnolia .

This was a stick too and was given to us by a dear friend now deceased. I love the blossoms. They smell so good and this tree makes me smile because of all the wonderful years of friendship we shared.
It doesn't take a lot to make me happy, but when I come home and turn in my driveway and I see this, it makes me smile.

It makes me smile when YOU come Through My Back Door where life is good.
betty
ps I just have to leave you with one more what makes me smile. Guess who?

To Everything There Is A Season

What a beautiful day it is here in East Tenn today. It feels so good to say that because we have had a lot of cold days and I am ready for the beautiful summer days that are coming. I am so happy you have dropped in this morning. You know the coffee is always on and today we are having Kona. Why don't you get a cup and fill it up, then we'll go sit on the porch. I just love that you make yourself at home when you visit. You know in the South, drop in company used to be real common.Not so much anymore. I think somebody somewhere said it wasn't polite. I always loved drop in company. To me it said we just wanted to see you. We don't care if your house is clean and tidy. We just want to visit. I miss that.
You may be wondering about the title of my post. Well, Monday is my birthday and I have been reflecting on my life. Do you do that? A while back,Linda Rudman, Behind My Red Door, did an awesome post, called the Winter of My Life. That post stuck with me for some reason. So, with this birthday coming up, I realize I am in the winter of my life. Does that make me sad or depressed? Not at all. Winter is a long season and has seemed to have gotten longer. Anyway I have been reflecting on the seasons of my life.

 I think I am three here. I am wearing my Mothers locket. Deb now has it. It has my Mothers teeth prints in it.

This is a picture of my daddy and me. Those things on the truck was what he hauled casing for wells on to the well machine. We called them cow catchers.
As you know by now I was an only child and only grandchild, so I guess I was a little spoiled. I was very loved too. I had a happy child hood and loved school. I married young and never regretted it. I had three children and life was good. My kids were so much fun. I remember one year when Deb was ten she had organized a surprise birthday party for me. It was at our house and it was a surprise! I think maybe my mother was in on it too.
 Come to think of it, my youngest son planned a birthday party for himself one year when he was seven. I wouldn't have known it if a mother hadn't called to see for sure what time! We had a birthday cake, but had to scramble for the rest of the stuff! No wonder birthdays are scary here . You never know what to expect.
I have always enjoyed life and expect to continue so for a very long time. I have been blessed with lots of experiences. I went to the International Special Olympics one  year and attended the Kennedy luncheon. Met Maria and Arnold, that was a happier time for them. I met several other celebrities and it was so much fun. I did a TV commercial, my home was in CS, as well as my friend Carols, and Debs is going to be.I have been blessed with so many unexpected blessings. The top of my blessing list,other than serving God is my family and friends.

This is Gabe. Remember he came 3 months early. Look at him now. Would you guess his daddy played baseball?

This is our little Mollie. She is a sweetie.

This is Andrew and Mollie. He is well known to all of you. See why I can't be depressed by a birthday? I am so grateful for my greats! I am for my grands too. They have all made wonderful adults that I like as well as love. My grandchildren are happy that I am  somewhat computer savvy. I am on FB and they have asked me to be their friends! I swell with pride.lol

 This was taken last summer in Destin. We are going again soon! My oldest son wants no part of the beach. He is a part time farmer and would rather be working in his garden than traveling.

This is him with his two sons. The one in the middle is mowing my yard as I write.
I am blessed with lots of friends.I play dominoes once a week with a group of beautiful, Christian ladies. I play cards with a group I have played with for 28 years. We have lots of  history. I have a group I play cards with on most Friday nights. You see I am very busy.
So To Everything There is A Season. I may be in the winter of my life, but it is still summer in my heart. To all my blogging friends I say a big thank you for your visits, e-mails, and comments. It makes me happy you come Through My back Door where life is good.
betty
ps There are several celebrations coming up for my birthday. Have already had one party. Next time I'll share those with you.

What's On Your Walls?

Good  Monday morning everyone and welcome Through My Back Door. You know the coffee is on,Kona today, so help yourself and have a seat. We will just have a nice little visit. My friends , the Butlers, from Newark, Ohio, have been here for four days, and left this morning. It is very quiet here now, so thanks for coming by. I haven't done a lot around the house, but have found myself thinking about walls. Not just walls, but what we have on them. I didn't think I had my walls full, but you know what? I do. Oh how I need to do more decluttering. I just don't know what else to put away. Oh well, it is what it is, so here are my "full"  walls!

This is my favorite picture. It is done by a local artist and is called The Spinner. I have always loved it.

You remember my wall of love.

On the porch. I always have liked this.

Deb painted this for me. It says,"As for me and my house we will serve the Lord". It is on the front porch too.

Deb did this one too. It is special.

Bathroom wall.

Kitchen wall. These were my great, great grandmothers spoons.

Kitchen wall, above my sink.

 A Buckley Moss school house print.

A primitive sampler in my reading nook. The figurine is a Sebastian, depicting the family who reads together.
I have so much stuff on the wall! Oh my!

These are in the hall. Baskets and candles. I just enjoy them both.

My youngest son when he was nine and his dog, Herk!

My favorite shelf with a candle holder. Well that isn't half of it. But I think it is enough to show you in one day. That didn't include the mirrors on the walls.! Oh my, I need more walls or less stuff!lol
Before we leave I'll show you the front porch. You've been Through My Back Door, but not the front.

This is one end, down toward the barn.

This is the other end. I hope you will come and sit and visit with me one day on the front porch.
I am so glad you came Through My Back Door today where life is good.
betty

Who Likes Yellow Ware?

Hello everybody and welcome Through My Back Door. I hope all of you Mothers have had as good a day as I have. Would you like a glass of Heavenly Tea? It is too late for coffee and besides the coffee pot is in the dishwasher. So come on in and lets just relax and enjoy this wonderful evening. It has been a beautiful day here in East Tn.You know I told some one I had complained more about the weather this year! In the winter it was too cold or too much snow. Now it is too chilly or too much rain. I am so ashamed of myself, I am just going to stop it. So What about you? Do you find yourself doing that too? Oh well,enough of that. I think I'd best get back to what we were talking about.lol I know a lot of you collect yellow ware. I have seen your collections posted and you have a lot of it. I really like it, but don't have much. Just a few pieces. I don't know if you are aware or not, but I don't have much cabinet space. I have NO built in cabinets. I just use free standing antique cupboards. So as you can imagine, I don't have a  lot of display room. I use almost everything and enjoy doing so. I have only bought one piece of yellow ware, plus two small custard cups. The rest are family. Except for the first piece I got. Remember the Simple yellow bowl I blogged about? This is it.

This was my first piece. I treasure it.

The mold in the middle and the two little custard cups are the only pieces I have bought. The two small bowls were my Mothers. She would save left overs in them.

This larger bowl was hers too. She served her mashed potatoes in it. She had certain bowls for certain things and it was always that way. My Grandmother was like that too.

This is the largest one and I don't remember what she used this one for. I use it for fruit, most of the time. That is all of my yellow ware. I told you I didn't have much, but I think every prim/colonial home needs a piece or two. I love the look of it, whether it is on the table or in a cupboard for display.
I also like Watt Pottery. There are so many patterns of Watt, but I like the most common, the Apple. I started collecting so many years ago and only collected pieces with advertising on it. Even though it was made in Ohio, most of my pieces are from graneries in SD, ND, Mn, or Iowa. The reason I collected advertising it was harder to find. I don't have it all out anymore but I do love it in the step back cupboard. We actually bought this cupboard for the Watt. I use the bottom for the necessary things like pots and pans.lol

Well I hope you enjoyed our little visit. I love showing you my few little collectibles here and there. I don't add to any of it anymore. There just isn't room for anything else. It is to the point I have to get rid of something if something comes in. That is not good! I firmly believe you should only have the things around you that you love. Today I hope each of you were surrounded by those you love. I was.
Thanks for coming Through My Back Door where life is good.
betty
ps: I want to show you a picture of my grandson Seth and great grandson Andrew. They were sitting in the swing at Deb's playing their harmonicas. I just found this too sweet.

Seth is going to be an actor. He studied Shakespeare in Mn this past summer and graduated from the University of Tn last May. He is my youngest grandson. Andrew of course you all know. He is four going on thirty!

Mothers Day and Being Thankful

Welcome Through My Back Door this Mother's Day eve. I am always glad to see you and of course the coffee is on. It is a little cool and I thought we would have a cup of DD hazelnut. I have just gotten addicted to it again. It is so good when the weather is cooler, don't you think? Of course to be truthful I can drink coffee in any weather. What about you? Are you like me thinking about your mother today? I think of mine every day, even though she has been gone 10 years. It just doesn't seem like it. She was such a wonderful woman. She certainly loved the Lord. She was so strong in her faith.  She was so young at heart and lived alone until she died at 88 years. She could stretch a dollar farther than anyone I ever knew. She gave up driving completely on her own. Just came in one day and said it made her nervous and she told God if He let her get home without hurting herself or anyone else, she wouldn't drive again.She didn't. (My kids will have to arm wrestle me to the ground, to get my keys!) My granddaughter, Amanda, and I, did a  family cookbook in her memory one year for the whole family, for Christmas. We all cried and said it was the best gift ever. She loved Christmas so much and cooked the meal every year until she wasn't able to any more. Then I took it over, but she still sat on a stool and made pies. I was an only child, as was my Mother. We were very close, she my grandmother and me.
I miss them very much. However, this past Christmas I decided I wasn't going to be sad about that which I no longer had, but be thankful that I had had those people in my life. So this Mothers Day, I am so thankful for having had my Mother, and for her Christian influence and love. She truly loved without any prejudice or harboring any ill will toward anyone. She would forgive you, no matter what you did. She gave unconditional love. I will never be like her, even though I would like to be. I want to take this Mothers Day and wish you all the best. If your Mother, like mine, is no longer with you, try not to be sad. Talk about her and laugh, remembering all the wonderful times you had. Be thankful, not sad, and if you are blessed to have your Mother hug her, embrace her, and laugh. It is these moments that sustain us later in life.Some of you have your Mothers this year but maybe they don't recognize you, or maybe they are ill. Cherish the moment. Be thankful for what you have had.  You may not have children, but I still wish you Happy Mothers Day. I know somewhere there is a child who has benefited from your  love and nurturing. So Happy Mothers Day everyone, and thank you for coming Through My Back Door, where life is good.
betty
ps: People are talking about what kind of decorations to use between now and Memorial Day. These are just a few I am enjoying for the moment.

These set on the floor by the fireplace and hides the outlet plug!

I love pansies! I also love geraniums!
Well I hope you enjoyed your visit. Next time we'll talk about Watt Pottery and yellow ware.

Heavenly Tea and What Moves Me

Good afternoon everyone and welcome Through My Back  Door. The porch is awaiting another coat of darker paint, but they are predicting storms so it will have to wait another day. Today I think we will sit out on the patio and have a glass of heavenly tea. We can talk or just "be." Whatever you choose to do.

Here is where we will sit. It is one of my favorite spots. It is shady just about all day long. I love this quiet spot and have my coffee here lots of mornings.
I'll give you a glass of tea. It is my families favorite.

I'll be glad to share the recipe. you take four tea bags, a sprig of mint, add 2 cups cold water, add 2-3 cups boiling water, and let set an hour. Remove tea bags and mint. Add 1 cup sugar, 6oz frozen lemonade concentrate, 2 cans apricot nectar, and 2 teaspoons almond flavoring. Stir and add 3more cups cold water. It is so good. I don't recommend you make this is a plastic pitcher. I bought a redware pitcher just for this. Any kind of crockery would work.This recipe came from the Mitford Cook Book, by Jan Karon. I have altered it a bit to suit my taste.Many of you probably have read the Mitford series. If not I recommend them. They are good books. Enjoy the tea. BTW, the glass tray it is setting on belonged to my maternal great grandmother Addy. It was her bread plate and was a wedding gift to her.
I love using things that belonged to my family. Don't you?
I don't know if any of you like kerosene lights or not, but I do. I had quite a collection at one time, but ran out of room, so I only kept a few. I'll share them with you. some of them are special. None of them are spectacular to anyone but me.

This was my great grandmother Beckys.It is special. She called my great grandfather Mr. Wright. As a child I found that so weird.Come to think about it as an adult I still do.lol

The one in the middle is special. It
was the one my Daddy kept in his shanty at the well machine. The other one on the left,is a smaller one known as a sick or courting lamp.

These two are special. They are a matched pair and a gift from my husband when I first started collecting.

 This is just a little miniature I thought was cute. I hope you enjoyed my small collection.
So what moves you? One of the things that moves me is a heart necklace I had made out of some old worn out rings that were my Mothers and Grandmothers. I have stated before I was an only child and only grandchild on my Mothers side. My Mother, Grandmother and I were very close. My grandmother was the ONLY person in the world who thought I was perfect. lol Anyway after she died, Mother and I were going through jewelery and I decided I wanted something special made from both of them. Something I could keep forever. I wear this often and I feel they are so close to me. So this little gold necklace is what moves me, when I see it or when I wear it.

I am so glad you came Through My Back Door today where life is good.
betty