Old South/New South

It is one of those cold, grey days, making you want to throw your hands up in disgust.  Spring has been teasing us with little glimpses of her coming glory only to retreat and leave us believing she'll never arrive. The tulips and daffodils, just peeking from the ground, have been sprinkled with a fine coat of snow and I have retreated to the comfort of my favorite chair.  Warm weather may allude me, but a cup of tea is an eternal friend.

Having spent the winter immersing myself in seed catalogs and sketching planting blueprints, I am especially anxious for the return of warm weather.  The restrictions of our neighborhood association are stealing a bit of my happiness, but I'm determined to create the garden of my dreams.  Roses and peonies top my planting list for the sheer joy their frilly loveliness brings and, with careful planning, I'm sure to be able to hide more than a few vegetables among the flowers; vegetable gardens are not on the "approved" list, along with fruit trees.  I still wonder what possessed me to believe this was the best neighborhood for us!

I grew up in the country with a large vegetable garden, a fruit orchard, and Mother's roses.  To lie beneath an apple tree in full bloom is to catch a glimpse of heaven and it was my permanent residence in the spring.  Charlotte's Web will forever be linked in my mind with apple blossoms after having spent a week beneath the old, red delicious in the side yard.  Unfortunately, this is a pleasure I've not enjoyed for far too many years. 

While an apple tree is not an option, I make do with a petite, flowering cherry and a lovely first edition I'll Take My Stand by our much beloved Twelve Southerners. Not a bad trade-off by any means. Compromises must be made in order to blend our old southern ways in this new, every changing, south. Now where to find those antique roses....

New Beginnings

     When I was a little girl, I remember what a special treat it was to have my cousins visit.  It was rare for them to make the long trip to our little Kentucky town and I relished every moment they were with us.  While the adults sat beneath the shade tree, sipping iced tea and catching up on the happenings in one another's lives (days before Facebook), the children would gather in the side yard to play games.

     Many a summer day was spent playing Red Rover, Red Light/Green Light, making daisy chains, and Freeze Tag.  As the day wore on, we wore the signs of a hard day spent playing; popsicle stains, grass stains, skinned knees, sunburns, and granny beads were evidence of a day well spent.

     How lucky I was to grow up in that small, southern town, in a small, southern way. Three television stations; one movie theater; a couple public pools (in town and too far of a drive to make it a regular event); one McDonald's (also in town); one roller skating ring (you guessed it....in town).....there wasn't much to do and I was lucky for it. I now live in a much larger city, population a little over 300,000, and, while not on the same scale of a major U.S. city, it is often too big and busy.

     My children have had very different childhoods from mine; I often feel regret over that.  They have grown up with five multiplex theaters within a few miles of our house, 100's of television stations, multiple city pools, a private neighborhood pool, any fast food restaurant you could imagine at every turn, Rupp Arena just down the road, private baseball leagues, private lacrosse leagues, etc...  Unfortunately, I can't say they are any happier for it.  I am sad to admit that we got caught up in the "American Dream" and lost what made our childhood so special.

Since New Year, I've been thinking about the direction I want to take this blog (hate that word) and this is what I've decided....



The Next-to-Nothing House is about family, faith, friendship, traditions, food, heritage, and those simple pleasure not found for purchase in any store.

   

 I wish to share with you family stories in the hope  you will be able to identify the thread which binds us all into a greater family.


     I wish to share my faith.  Faith in a God bigger than any challenge we may face. Faith learned at my mother's knee, from my father's simple prayers, and from many a fine preacher.





      I wish to share the recipes passed down through my family.  Recipes as simple as fluffy, buttermilk biscuits and as complicated as a multi-stepped raspberry chocolate mousse cake.

     I wish to share my heritage.  My family arrived in Virginia in 1613, left a legacy in North Carolina, touched history in Tennessee, and, eventually, made their way into Kentucky shortly after it became a state.

     Many family traditions can be traced back to those who came before.  I hope to share those traditions with you.

   


 I wish to share our lives with you in the hope that we can all learn something from one another.

Welcome to The Next-to-Nothing House...